


Kinsley and the Toy

by TheCobbledWriter



Category: Emmy The Robot (Webcomic)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28826928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCobbledWriter/pseuds/TheCobbledWriter
Summary: In another time. In the same place.Kinsley is the last of her kind. A toy maker trapped in her tower, surrounded by an eternal winter.She journeys to the city with her toy in her hood.She only wants to fulfill her wish. They only want her gone.
Kudos: 3





	1. Kinsley in the Tower

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Snow Snow for Lucy](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/744723) by Andrew Kerekes. 



Her newest toy was only a few stitches away from completion. Her fragile metal arms attempted to thread the fabric through the needle. The shaking never made this an easy task, but she was a persistent robot. After one, two, make that three failed attempts, she was again successful in her pursuit of creation. The thread went through and closed the final section of the stuffed animal’s stubby hand. She held the rabbit up into the light with her arms, them being comprised of nothing more than a single metal rod connected to wrists. Her hand and fingers were the bare essentials, exposed metal for palms and jointed spikes for fingers. From it to her elbow, there was nary a shell or exterior to be found. But she never noticed her pitiful things, all she could see was the brown stuffed rabbit in front of her. His simplistic button eyes and stitched mouth. Wearing a fine gentleman's black suit. She had even found a top hat and monocle for him. In the light it was one of the most beautiful things that Kinsley ever saw. Its radiance amplified with the knowledge that it was by her hands, her pathetic excuse for hands, that crafted this creature.

“My what a cute little rabbit you are. Would you mind telling me your name?” The nandroid made the rabbit bounce and turn, as if it was surprised that she was speaking to him. “Oh? Me? My name is Edward young one! Who is this exquisite robot who graces me with her presence?” The nandroid placed the rabbit on the desk and walked over to a more proper position. “My name is Kinsley dear rabbit. I am so very pleased to meet you on this fine day!” The nandroid bowed in respect and picked the rabbit back up. “The pleasure is all mine young one. I was about to go in for a spot of tea. Would you care to join me?” The nandroid’s eyes lit up as she smiled. “Oh I would surely enjoy your company Edward. I would be honored in fact!” The nandroid began to laugh and twirl with the rabbit, her long blond hair parted over her shoulders and was a straight as can be. She wore a light blue and white winter dress that made her look like a medieval maiden, the sleeves rolled up to not interfere with her work. It fluttered and spun along with the pair as they danced in the damp room. Not a single window could be found and it was only lit by the singular ceiling lamp found in its center. But to Kinsley it was her stage, where her desk of tools and mechanical toy parts could be found. Many projects littered the room, some finished, some only half formed ideas. But the one in front of her was her most simplistic, and also her favorite one yet.

However, the festivities were stopped short as Kinsley heard a rather loud door slam. She knew he was coming, and quickly placed the toy behind her back. She was nervous, very much so. She wondered how he would take this idea, this incredibly simplistic thing in her hands. There was no metal to be found in the rabbit. No ingenuity in the craftsmanship, no springs or sounds to be heard. Cloth, stuffing, buttons, and a monocle, that’s all there was. Kinsley waited as the foot steps echoed on the granite floor until the sound was right up against the door. She was afraid, but felt ashamed at this. Why would she feel scared? This was the best person in the world right?

She didn’t have long to consider it, in a split second the door flung open. He walked in wearing his aging brown jacket. Kinsley noticed he lost more of his hair, leaving all of the top bald and the rest of it entirely gray. His sores had gotten worse and had spread. He approached her slowly as she tried her best to smile in front of him, the meekness of it showed her nervousness as clear as can be.

“Ah Kinsley, my child. How are you today?” He reached out with his gloved hand into the light and brushed the side of Kinsley’s hair.

“Good morning Papa,” she replied, her smile turning only sightly more happy as she felt his hand. He stared at her through his little round glasses and gave her a look of content, a look that Kinsley remembered from years ago.

“Kinsley, have you been a busy girl? Making toys for the children?” Kinsley gave a cheery nod.

“Yes Papa! I just f-finished one for them...” Kinsley hesitated as she raised Edward up for him to see. “G-G-Greetings sir, I’m Edwa-ah!” He had snatched the doll away from Kinsley, only silently looking at him. He attempted to adjust the hat and monocle, finding they did not move at all. He limply held one of its stubs up and let it drop back down.

“Kinsley…” The man said, his face clearly upset. Kinsley’s arms began to shake again, her eyes staring off into the distance as she couldn’t bare to look at him. He threw the doll to his feet and stomped on it as hard as he could. Kinsley could hear the sound of the doll’s monocle cracking. “What child would want this!? This useless thing with no machinery! It cannot do anything! I thought I told you to make something the children will ENJOY!”

Kinsley face was in horror as he started yelling at her again. She could only see the precious doll crushed and scuffed by his dirty shoes. “Papa! No! Stop it!” He seized one of her arms and yanked it towards himself, Kinsley grabbing it with her other hand to get him to stop. “Papa you’re hurting me! I’m sorry! I… I just thought-!”

“No! You didn’t think! Use your head! Make something the children will enjoy! Look at you! Look at your arms! How can someone like you not understand!” Kinsley didn’t want to look, she was disgusted whenever she was forced to accept what her arms had become. He forcefully turned Kinsley’s head and made her look at her own arms. “Who gave you these arms!? Who fixed you!? Now do as I say and enough of these games Kinsley!” He shoved Kinsley away as she fell to the floor, the doll still underneath his foot. He began to walk towards the door as Kinsley was whimpering. “Kinsley…” he said, not bothering to look at her as he spoke, “Stop behaving like a child. Get rid of it.” He had finally left the room with a loud bang, leaving Kinsley alone. She crawled over and retrieved the doll, seeing that indeed his monocle was cracked and his fur was dirtied. She retreated into the corner and hugged the doll as tight as she could until she calmed down. The ceiling lamp gently swinging back and forth…

***

  
He looked at himself in the mirror and paid special attention to the sores on his head. He sighed and opened the medicine cabinet, taking out a pill bottle and noting how many were left, not nearly enough. He turned the faucet on and took a drink of water, swallowing two pills along with it. He carefully lowered himself onto the nearby bed, dealing with the pain in his back as he laid down. Again, he swam in his thoughts, colliding with the same ones as always. He stared into the stand-in for his ceiling as the large collection of gears, rods, and metal stood absolutely still. None of the parts made a sound, but to him he perfectly heard the weight of such dreadful silence. He would give all the days of the earth to simply see them move again, to hear their exquisite sounds of mechanical, automated, perfection.

He could barely drive himself to stave his desire away as he searched the ocean for something else. It didn’t take his thoughts long to find Kinsley. His disappointment crawled up his barely functioning spine as if he was in his prime. “How?” He thought, “How could something like her fail to understand? Why?” He could never comprehend how Kinsley consistently failed to see the beauty of what was right above him. How these were better than the stars of the universe. The creations of humans, the ingenuity of how only a handful of regular people could construct each individual piece to create a monument of life, capable of living far beyond their creator. Kinsley was by far the greatest of all these works. A machine that could live, the signifier of man’s mastery over existence. Humans had created themselves in a machine. But Kinsley rejected machines, wanting to make that which is useless. He could barely get himself to sit up as the pain in his back and the guilt in his chest attempted to shove him down. He didn’t want to hurt Kinsley, didn’t want to scare her or ruin her. But she didn’t understand, she had to understand. For man to create machine and for machine to create machine, that would complete everything… and making something that had no machinery, no beauty, was awful enough on its own. For something like Kinsley, it was the worst thing he could think of.

***

  
“Here, this is what I wanted you to see.” Kinsley walked up the narrow staircase and peered out of the rather large hole in the wall. She crossed her arms and held the doll as she looked out to the vast and empty tundra. “Ah my dear it is as beautiful as you said it was! I can see beyond the walls of the world itself from here!” Kinsley saw many hills and piles of snow as it eventually stretched to far to see beyond the fog. She was also able to look down and see that they were many stories up, to high for man or machine alike to survive a fall. “Here it’s all white, but the white on the ground is different from the white in the sky. Papa tells me the sky is full of clouds and the ground is full of snow. Sometimes the sky is blue, but I think it always look too weird. Here it’s all so beautiful.” She could see it was snowing again as tiny flakes dropped down to the ground. “A blue sky? Simply preposterous. Clearly it is all meant to fit together. Have you ever felt the snow?” Kinsley paused as she held the doll up. “Me? No… but I would like to. Papa said it’s very cold but I would love to feel it just once. You can move it around and dig into it, I would love to live in a room of snow.” After sometime staring out into the world and watching the snow fall, Kinsley took the doll and retreated back down the stairs. “Why can’t you go out Kinsley?” She lowered her head as she walked back to her room, not wanting to speak, but needing to. “Papa says the world is dangerous. That people would hate me, there is only one way out and he keeps it locked all the time. I always ask him if I can go, and he gets upset whenever I do.”

She took a moment and considered her words. “My dear, does he always get upset with you?” He asked. Kinsley placed the doll on the desk and sat back down in her chair. She could only bring herself to slowly nod at the doll’s question. “Kinsley, that’s awful. He shouldn’t do that to such an innocent person.” Kinsley laid her elbows on the desk and stared at the doll’s cracked monocle, her mind filled with confusing sadness and even a little bit of anger. “I don’t know why Papa gets angry,” she said, grabbing some nearby tools and placing a hollowed see through cube in the center. “He keeps telling me to make something children will enjoy. But I’ve never seen a child before. How can I make something for someone when I don’t even know what they’re like? He tells me all the time how they are like little humans, but I can only imagine a small version of him and I’m not sure they are like that at all.” Kinsley grabbed some parts from the desk and began to place them into the cube. “”Well,” Edward started, Kinsley wanting to lift her spirits by any means. “Perhaps they are like you?” she smiled at the thought, “Well I suppose I would enjoy that very much so.”

She took a series of small gears and connected rods into their centers. Those gears were then aligned with other gears smaller and larger. Those gears were also connected and they themselves were aligned with gears, smaller and larger than the ones she did before. These too were connected and aligned with gears, smaller and larger, than the ones she did before. Pretty soon, she had many gears connected with metal rods in their centers. Those were then aligned with other gears, smaller and larger than the ones she did before. Each set of gears were rotated and placed inside of the see through cube. “What are you making Kinsley?” said Edward. “I’m making something the children will enjoy, Papa always says this is what they **_really_** want.” Her reply had an air of mockery in it, as if in the back of her mind she doubted his words. “Do you believe that Kinsley?” the rabbit asked, Kinsley’s normally stifled feelings were allowed to flow in the company of this gentlemen. “Well I honestly don’t know little rabbit. I just know that he always returns from his trips more frustrated than when he left.” Her gearbox was starting to take shape, every gear would help turn another in a perfect loop. She placed a crank on the outside and began to turn it. “See, Papa loves these kinds of toys, where these gears help turn each other. He says the sound helps calm him and he says the children love them too. But I… Well it’s nothing much, I wouldn’t know what a child would love myself.” Kinsley gave the rabbit on pat on the head, turning her gearbox as she became more depressed with every revolution of the gears inside.

“What do you think really think of it my dear?” Kinsley stopped turning the gearbox and simply held it in her lap, not saying a word. She suddenly flung it onto the desk in anger, not paying any attention to where it landed as it made a loud thud and remained intact. “I… I hate it.” She stammered, wanting to admit to herself how much they disgust her. “They remind me of my arms. I look at it and feel nothing from them. It’s just an endless series of moving parts contributing nothing but to itself.” Kinsley took a moment and rubbed her face. She retrieved the cube of gears, staring at Edward with a bitter sense of defeat at having to craft what she considered an abhorrent thing. “You’re much better, you’re a gentlemen, you go into the shop for a spot of tea with your friends and return home. You work with electricity hoping to discover the secrets it holds.” She brushed her hands across the doll’s features, tapping the cracked monocle. “You’re soft and warm, something that can be held without poking me.” She put the cube back down and held Edward aloft. She flapped his ears on both sides of his hat and giggled. “You flatter me dear. But why make such things if they trouble you so?” Kinsley stopped as this question again reared its ugly head.

Kinsley wanted to stop, wanted to make her beautiful toys. But she owed the person who saved her life. She remembered waking up under the truck as it flipped over, surrounded by flames. The desperate panic she felt as she forcefully crawled out from under the wreck and seeing everyone running in every possible direction as their voices blended into an unrecognizable choir of screams. She never knew where she was, just that it was a place with a lot of tall buildings. There were so many lights in the sky… so many bodies of steel falling to the ground. Her memories did not allow her to get much further than that. “It’s annoying being stuck here while he treats me like his kid. I’m thankful he does that for me and it makes us both happy but… something about it feels wrong, like he’s not meant to do that for me. I want to make the children happy, I don’t know why. I’ve never met them but it brings such joy thinking about them. Is that… a little weird? Just, the concept of making them happy. I did like these metal things once, but now I feel something's missing with them. Maybe I just need to find it? I want them to enjoy what I make and if Papa says this is what they like then…” She picked up one of her tools and resumed work on the gearbox with a renewed sense of determination, “That’s what I’ll make.”

***

  
His footsteps again echoed throughout the tower after he awoke from another night’s slumber. His muscles were sore, he could feel the pain infecting the innards of his bones as they grew cold. His crippling legs making every step a limping hassle. He went through the barely lit corridor and down a flight of stairs before walking down a steeper set, holding onto the walls so as not to fall. The last one was always a loud thud as he felt gravity try and yank him down. As soon as his foot touched the ground he heard the usual sounds of panic and the shuffling of metal. He wished she didn’t have to get so scared, yet he knew why. He approached the door and touched it with his gloved hand, not wanting to feel the sting of freeze from it. He slowly opened the door and saw her standing in the light with her hands behind her back. He always believed she was an angel, that her essence had to be contained in a metallic shell lest it burn through all who looked at her. Which made it all the more painful to see her fake smile.

“Good morning my child… busy making toys?” he said in a gruff tone. The two knew how his vocal chords were sounding raspier, but it was getting worse by the day.

“Y-Yes, P-Papa.” Kinsley lifted up a cube comprised of twenty-seven smaller cubes in a three by three by three structure, each one connected by a metal rod. Each individual cube was a clear shell with many gears inside and a hand crank. Each individual hand crank could be turned, rotating the gears within each individual cube. The interconnected rods all joined to a final hand crank on the outside of the cubes, turning this crank would turn every gear in every cube in one fluid motion. Kinsley’s arms were shaking as she presented this new toy to him. She wished he would snatch it away from her like with Edward, she wanted to be rid of the monstrosity she created as soon as the universe would permit. But he did not, he slowly turned the main crank as his eyes grew larger. The sounds of rotating gears beget feelings in him as if he was standing in the center of an orchestra, all playing for the sake of his soul.

“Kinsley, the beauty of this world. This is spectacular. It is marvelous.” He gave her a pat on the head and brought her closer to hug her dearly. “The children, they will love this. They will adore it.”

“I-I hope they do Papa. Do you think I’ll ever meet them someday?” He placed his fingers onto her chin and lift her head up to meet his eyes.

“One day soon Kinsley, soon they will accept you, and they will love you all the same.” As he was about to reach down and take the toy from her hands, the ceiling lamp shuffled just enough for him to catch the light bouncing off of something in the room. He looked to where it came from and saw the reflection of a golden band, comprising one piece of a newly crafted monocle. He saw it laying within the eye of a recently cleaned rabbit, in a black gentleman's suit. “Kinsley…” he said, his voice reaching a low tone and practically rumbling in his throat to escape his mouth.

“What is it Papa? Don’t you want to take the toy to the shop today?” Kinsley noticed his eyes were looking at neither her or the toy. She felt a horrendous weight fall on her when she followed his eyes and realized he saw Edward on the back of her desk. She attempted to run and grab him before he could take him. He caught the hood of Kinsley’s dress and dragged her back, yanking her behind him as he made is way over and picked him up.

“Freshly cleaned, and a repaired monocle…” He said, his prior pride in her turning black as he realized she deliberately disobeyed him.

“P-Papa I was going to get rid of it, but I had to make your toy first.” She said, doing everything to stifle her fear and hoping he wouldn’t get upset again.

He was strangely silent as he stared at the doll, getting lost in a mixture of offended rage and pitiful confusion. After everything, the long days of the two looking at all the gears in his tower, all the talk and discussions about the beauty of machines, the beauty of her. She still rejected them, the one thing who should love them more than even himself. “First my child ignores my request, then, she has the gall to lie to me.” He snarled as he seized Edward from the desk. “How dare you Kinsley! You could have made more toys for me! Instead you persist in wasting time with these! These! These pathetic excuses for creation! You should love machines! You ARE a machine!” He started to approach Kinsley as she slowly backed away in turn, the box of gearboxes falling to the floor as she became horrified at him. “I found you! I saved you! I fixed your destroyed arms! Do you not remember!?”

“P-Papa, I don’t want to!” He again showed her arms to her.

“Remember Kinsley! Remember the miracle I did for you!” She fell into the past as she saw him approach her at the bottom of the cave. She could see herself on the table as the two wretched things were lowered and soldered onto her sockets. The horrified reality that sunk in as she started to live with her arms and being stuck in the tower. “Now DO. AS. I. SAY!” He threw Kinsley and she collided with the table, hurting her back and falling to the floor. He took the toy doll with him as he walked to the door, leaving the toy gearbox behind. He looked at Kinsley as she lowered her head, partially lifting herself up from the table. She was breathing, a function that struck him as odd due to their lack of need for oxygen. “Kinsley.” He said with a dejected tone, wanting to make some amends for what he was doing.

“You…” She finally spoke, “You… **HORRIBLE MAN**!!” His face was shocked as he watched Kinsley grab the gearbox and scream as loud as her metallic chords would allow. She threw the toy onto the floor with all the might she could muster. The toy shattered into pieces as gears, rods, and clear shells flew everywhere in the air. He was speechless at her outburst, not even knowing they were capable of such anger. It dawned on him that his actions created this as Kinsley stood in the light, her face practically feral, breathing heavily. For the first time he felt something he never predicted machinery could produce in him, he was scared. Kinsley had spelled it out as clear as she could, she hated what he was making her do. She hated making these hollow toys. His soul was snapped, despite his best attempts. Kinsley grabbed her head and collapsed onto her knees as she started sobbing. He could only open the door as fast as he could and leave. He reached for a keychain in his jacket’s pocket and locked the door. Walking through the floors of the tower, he remembered the rabbit in his hands. He tossed it aside without much thought, reaching a tray of toys and picking it up.

His journey to the shop was met with the usual cries of mockery, the usual laughter that pierced him. Only now, he paid none of it any attention. Alone he sat in the lit space, gizmos and whatsamajigs surrounding him. A paradise of one is no paradise at all. He wanted to share the joy with them. But everyone, even his most precious one, hated his machines, hated him. The facade shattered, the pieces resting on the floor of Kinsley’s room. He spent the entire day in quiet contemplation, not a soul entering his place of business, mothers hushing their daughters and walking right along. He endlessly replayed moments of his life again in his head, studying every detail and discovering the same thing again and again.

He left the shop at the usual time, leaving the tray of toys in the same piles as the others. He went back to his home, not daring to visit Kinsley or even approach her room. He simply walked into his makeshift bathroom, taking out the bottle of pills. When he was about to pour out his usual two he only stopped and stared at them. With the lies gone, he could see all the horrible things he forced onto Kinsley, onto the world. The dream was dead, and was dead throughout the majority of his life. The day the world made its mistake was when any hope of a world made better by technology vanished. He finally admitted to himself, it was never meant to be. He poured the rest of his pills down the drain, tucking himself into bed and staring at his wondrous gears, losing himself in the endless possibilities of ‘what if?’ before finally succumbing to sleep.

***

  
She suddenly awoke in a panic. Her head collided with the desk as she shot up from the floor. Kinsley grasped it and waited for the pain to stop, breathing deeply. After checking if she damaged her face or cracked it, she took account of her room. The ceiling lamp above her was off, the bulb was burnt out and the room was illuminated only by Kinsley’s glowing eyes. She crawled out from the under the desk, trying and failing to recall what happened. The room was cold, freezing even, she was able to see her breath in the room. The shattered remains of her toy laid exactly where they were before, the rest of her creations were in their proper place save for the brown rabbit in a gentleman’s suit. Kinsley tried to leave and found the door unlocked and easily opened. “What happened?” she asked aloud, “I thought this was locked… how long was I off?” She slowly ventured outwards into the main stairway, no light sources were lit. The entire tower was bathed in a dark blue, only vaguely lit by the moon as its light struggled to pierce into the interior. Kinsley felt a tinge in her back, her steps became heavier at the lack of life. She tried to ascend to her Papa’s room, climbing slowly as the wind outside made eerie whistling noises. She nervously kept looking up and down the staircase. Each time relieved that no monster had arrived. She was hoping nothing had happened and that she would soon find him in his room.

She finally reach his floor, barely peering over from the staircase to see if anything was there. She saw only one thing, the door to her Papa’s room opened, a light source visible from within. Her arms were shaking as she grabbed the door and peered inside, she could feel the bizarre sensation of a heart skipping a beat, not sure what she was going to encounter when she looked. All of her feelings of nervousness flushed out of her mind when she processed that all there was to see was him resting in his bed. Kinsley became more horrified when she saw that his sores had gotten much worse from the last time she saw him, parts of his skin took on a pinkish red color and only bits and scraps of hair were left. “P-Papa!?” she shouted, running into the room and kneeling by the bed.

“Kinsley… My child.” His voice was weak, it was raspy, it sounded as though a piece of his throat was missing.

“Papa what happened to you!?” Kinsley was fraught with confusion, how did it spread so fast?

“I’m… I’m sick Kinsley. Sick for a long long time now... I am dying, my child.” Kinsley jumped back in shock, covering her mouth as she gasped.

“Papa… Papa, no!” Her arms where now badly shaking. Her eyes horrified.

“Kinsley… listen closely my dear. I know now that I was wrong… about so many things. I was wrong about everything. My shop has not sold a single thing throughout my entire life, ever since I opened it. The children, the children do not love these toys of gears and metal. The world does not wish to know the beauty of machines. I… I was an old fool, believing I could make them see the beauty of them again, that they could learn to trust them, that they could see what I saw. But I was wrong. Never have they wished to see them as anything but horrible abominations.” He choked on his words and started coughing, Kinsley saw a glass of water on the stand by his bed and handed it to him, washing away bile and clearing his throat as he drank. “But then I found you, and I wanted to believe that you could help them to see. As I grew weaker, and older, and I could not build anymore, I trusted on you to be the guiding light. You, a machine, would teach the world the true possibility of robots. You would make glorious things. But even you did not want to.” He reached over and slowly rolled up the sleeves of her dress, exposing her arms. “I believed you could see the beauty in these arms, how they allowed you to function. Yet you cannot see what I do, and I could not teach you. What a fool I was. Perhaps it is for the best that the world forgets such things. When you hold a machine close to your heart, you cannot feel anything, a gear can only stab you, chill you to the bone as it lies cold against the floor. But this…” He forced himself to sit up and rest against the backboard of his bed, Kinsley noticed he was holding a familiar doll close his heart.

“Edward! You’re safe!” He allowed Kinsley to take the rabbit and she held it dear to her bosom, happy to see he was not destroyed.

“It is warm, and comforts you in trying times. Kinsley, the children do not like toys of machinery, I believe they would prefer this, these toys of warmth and comfort. You were right. In my madness of wanting them to understand I… I hurt you. I hurt the greatest machine ever invented. For me, that is unforgivable.” He took another drink of water as Kinsley stood up. Holding the rabbit with her arms crossed. “My child, or rather, Kinsley. Do you know what you are?”

“I-I’m a robot, right?” A weak smile appeared on his face as he tried to laugh before launching into another coughing fit. As his muscles relaxed, he shook his head.

“Oh my child you are so much more. You… are the last of your kind.” The words pierced Kinsley. She always carried a sense of loneliness. Learning she was not the only robot that existed in the world only deepened it.

“Last? There use to be… more of me? More robots?”

“Yes… There used to be many of you. You were the greatest machines ever devised by humans. Your minds were the most advanced, you are practically a living device. They called all of you, nandroids.” Kinsley’s mind did not feel as though this term was unknown to her. She felt the bizarre sensation of hearing it for the first time as though she’s heard it a thousand. “I remember being a very young child back then, scattered memories of happier days. I use to look up to the person who invented you, his name was John Sterling. Only the truly wealthy had one of you. You were meant to help the family, ease some of their burdens. Most importantly, you were to help them raise their children. You were to watch over them and help them to grow.”

“I was suppose to, help children?” Kinsley felt herself sink upon being told all of this as pieces of information and questions were starting to fill her head. “But Papa, how come I don’t remember this? Did I ever do that?”

“The opportunity was snatched from you. As we made the grand mistakes that would create our eternal winter, you’re misfortune of ending up where you did spared you the same fate as all the other robots in the world. Now I…” Kinsley could tell the man was holding back tears as his eyes grew red and they began to be filled with them. “I wanted to keep you safe, because humans have destroyed ourselves. But all I did was ruin you… Kinsley. I still believe you are an angel, trapped in a metallic shell. I believe you can still set things right, you can achieve the vision all nandroids were made for, showing them a world made better by technology. I failed all my life, but you can show them that robots can still be wonderful things, that the world can be a better place with technology. Kinsley,” he said, pointing at Edward and laying back down, “There is a great city nearby, the place where my shop is? Please, show the world what a wondrous thing you are… Take that toy, that beautiful thing you created by your own hands, and give it to a child there. Just… make a single child happy… That is all I ask of you.”

“But Papa…” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how to get there, and what about you? Who will look after you?”

“You cannot take the path I do, they have decided to cast me out and the tunnel has been destroyed, those who do not hate me have forgotten me. Take my key and go through the door on the floor beneath yours, the one you always ask me about. As the moon travels through the sky, follow the direction it is going, you will find another entrance there.” He coughed as hard as Kinsley had ever heard him. He laid back down and reached out with a solemn hand as Kinsley held it. “You do not have to forgive me, I am a horrible man. Do not feel regret for admitting the truth in anger. I am doing what I should have done many years ago. Maybe if I was not so scared of it all, not so selfish in what I’ve done. Perhaps I could have lived to see my dream realized. But my fear was not entirely without cause. You must be careful out in the world Kinsley. The world fears you, the world is angry with you, they believe you can cause destruction more so than they ever could. You must be wary of those who disturb you… Do not assume everyone will help you because you are sweet and kind... Many will wish to destroy you because you are these things. But I believe you can make it... and I will be praying that you do. My dear... sweet... angel…”

“But Papa! I have to stay and watch you! I… I got angry but you know what you did was wrong! I can’t leave you behind, I should help you get better! I shouldn’t leave you… right?” Kinsley received no response as he closed his eyes and let out his final breath. She tried to shake his arm to get his attention but noticed he still did nothing. Kinsley let go of his hand as it dropped to the bed, limp and unmoving. She placed her head onto his heart and heard that it beat no more. She could not help but lay there and sob to herself, feeling a sickening mixture of regret, anger, and sadness at his passing. There was a time the two would smile and make toys together. Kinsley was like a newborn when she was found, having to be taught everything by him. What the world was like, what things on the earth were. The two survived against the dreaded winter cold together in this tower. But those times were shattered long before his death, long before Kinsley smashed the gearbox. She felt the crushing weight of being alone in this world. She had no one.

“Kinsley…” said a voice. She slowly lifted herself and looked as his peaceful face as he passed away. “We… should get moving now. We should move in the night, when there are less people.” She stood up as the voice tried to comfort his friend. Each step she took as she looked at her Papa led to intense pain in her body. She grabbed the key and made her way to the door to his room, turning the light off and shutting the door to let him rest in peace.

“Yes… we should leave now.” She hugged him dearly as the two grew warm in the darkened tower. “We… need to get to the city, I’m… I’m free.” The realization dawned on her that she would never have to make another toy of gears and rods again, that she could now leave and explore the outside world. She didn’t want to waste another second in this place. Her dress held up, her feet moved faster than she ever made them. Below the floor to her room, stood a large wooden door in the largest room in the tower. It was filled with plaques of wood describing her tower, how the gears turned the hands and sounded large chimes back when it functioned. She unlocked the entrance with her key and opened it. Seeing the world outside and the snow so very close. She never saw snow this close before except on the rare occasion she was able to catch some onto her hand. She hesitated as she stood, not venturing forth into the world.

“This is what you’ve always wanted Kinsley,” Edward started, wanting to remind her of happier things, “and now there is a whole city for us to find. It reminds me of my youth. Exploring the mysterious lands of the earth in search of answers to life’s mysteries. Not only that, but there are children waiting for us out there.”

“He said it would be a dangerous journey… are you sure about this Edward?” Kinsley looked around the damp tower she called her home.

“My dear do not give it another thought!” He nearly felt offended at the insinuation, “We are tasked with something of the utmost importance! I would have offered help sooner had I known what you are. Come along now. We mustn’t dilly dally if we are to get to the city before sunrise, much less before dinner.”

“I… Heh, of course, you’re right. There’s nothing for me here now... We have to get to the city and find a child. Here, if things may be dangerous…” Kinsley rolled her dress’s sleeves back down and plopped Edward into her hood, tightly wrapping his arms around her neck to secure him. “You’ll be safe here.”

“Oh my word! What a genius idea Kinsley. I shall be your lookout for any nefarious ne’er-do-wells who may wish to impede our progress! Now onward! To the city!” Kinsley giggled at her companion’s headstrong eagerness, her spirits being lifted by his kind words. She stood at the doorway and slowly moved her foot down to touch the snow, she quickly retreated upon feeling how cold it was. On her second attempt, she was able to stand on it and feel it move and break under her weight.

“So… this is what it feels like. It almost feels like… a hardened cloud.” She reached down and grabbed some of it as she felt it in her hands, fascinated by it’s touch. She shuffled it around, pulled some of it apart, and mushed them all together into one mass of snow. She broke a piece off and put it into her mouth, sticking her tongue out and noticing it disappeared. “My tongue is all wet!” She exclaimed, “Snow is… really cold water! It’s frozen!” The concept of snow, long since foreign and only seen beyond a hole in the wall. Suddenly made sense as if the answer was always in her mind. She dropped the rest of it and started digging, immersing herself in the sensation as she pulled parts away from the ground and built another pile behind her, she gathered some of it into her hands and clumped it together, pressing it into a makeshift ball. It was tossed up to the tower and bounced off, leaving a piece of it stuck to the wall as the remainder fell to the ground. “This… this is snow.” She said to herself. Happy as can be to finally feel it beneath her feet, being able to touch it.

“Snow is indeed frozen water. Well, a large mass of frozen water crystals to be precise” Edward piqued. “But we’ll have plenty of opportunities to play it in later, we should start our journey!”

“Oh! Sorry… Let’s see.” Kinsley stared up into the sky and noticed the full moon as bright as can be. She traced it’s path with her eyes and was able to predict where it would go with her processes. “So if we were to follow the direction we would need to go…” She raised her arm and pointed it straight in the direction the moon would set. “In this direction, the city is this way! Hang on tight Edward!” She lifted her feet and took one step in front of the other, excited to see what the city was like, all the children that were waiting for her to find. She looked back one final time as she walked away from her home. She wished things had happened differently, that the two could have remained close and loving. But in the end, she was relieved she was leaving that place. “Thank you for saving me. Goodbye Papa...” She whispered, with all the conflicting feelings resting in the back of her mind. Now, she was ready to begin anew, with a new understanding of what she was, a nandroid that was meant to help children. She didn’t quite know how yet, but that’s exactly what she intended to do. Of course, she would have to reach them first.


	2. Kinsley in the Fields

Kinsley walked through the snow covered fields, surrounded in the cold. Not even the tower was visible behind her anymore. The fields were comprised of flat plains, bumpy hills, and mountainous piles of the cold substance. A series of spires were visible just ahead. The wind flew gently through her hair as the serene stars scattered themselves above her. There was not a single cloud in the sky to block the moon, her only compass in these strange lands.

She placed a finger on her chin in contemplation, “How far do you think the city is Edward?” She asked, “We’ve been walking for some time already.”

“Well the answer is simple my dear, taking the average length of one city from another in a straight line and factoring in your average speed. Averaging your kilometers per hour speed thus traveled I would say that the best estimation is… well if we take in the uh, average terrain, we could assume no mountains will impede our progress or we won’t encounter any additional human contact on our journey there. I roughly guess that um… Hm. Well…”

Kinsley began to giggle at him, “Which is to say, you don’t have an answer, correct?”

“Uh~~ well. The scientific mind often comes to a point of no answer. It just means we have to dig deeper.” Kinsley turned her head to look at him, still sitting snugly in her dress’s hood, Edward’s arms still wrapped around her neck to hold on.

“I thought scientists had all the answers though, you’re all so smart.” Edward laughed at the same assertion he encountered throughout much of his life, especially during his years of teaching.

“The first thing a scientist must do, especially one who is a gentlemen, is to admit that there is very little we truly understand. Even something we claim is a law may one day be completely shattered by a miraculous discovery. I do not believe we will ever have all the answers, nature’s imagination is so great that we’ll always be kept on our toes.” Kinsley was intrigued by the rabbit’s answer. It was in her contemplation that she was carried to another pearl of wisdom.

“So, to admit you don’t have all the answers, is perhaps one of the smartest answers you can give?”

“Yes my dear you’ve got it!” Edward was ecstatic that the girl understood, something most of his students refused to. “To admit you lack the answers is to invite the search for them so! It is what drives us all! Even you!”

“Even me? What do you mean Edward?” Kinsley was rather confused, in no way did she consider herself a scientist.

“You ask a question, ‘How do I make toys that children will enjoy?’ You wish to seek an answer to that question and put forth a solution. Scientists perform the same steps in our all quandaries of the universe.” Kinsley never thought much of herself, certainly not enough to claim the title of scientist. But the methodology made sense.

“Well, if I’m lucky, I may have already found an answer.”

“Only time may answer that question for now I’m afraid. We’ll have to reach the city first before we get into any of that.” Edward wanted Kinsley to succeed in her endeavors. She reminded him of himself when he was younger, the initial spark in her eyes as she looked at him. He felt sorry that someone as bright and full of spirit as her had her path muddied by the world around her.

The pair approached the looming spires and began to walk through them. So tall was their height, that Kinsley thought they could touch the sky. Some were straight, some were bent near the top. The spires were like needles as they pierced through the snow. Each one converged upwards, shrinking until all the sides met at one singular tip near the top. “What an odd place.” She said, “I wonder what could have formed these, they are scattered about so randomly. Is there anything inside?”

“We could attempt to find out.” Edward replied. Not quite sure what to make of the monoliths that surrounded them. “They remind me of the electric coils in my workshop.”

“Hmm, here. Let’s see.” Kinsley approached one of the towers and dug some of the snow out to look inside, only to find more snow. “Hmm, I don’t see anything. Well if there’s nothing in them then…” a mischievous smirk etched itself on her face. She grabbed a pile of snow from the base of the spire and started packing it together in the palm of her hands.

“Is that really a good idea Kinsley?” Edward became nervous as he predicted what she was trying to do.

“Hey, seeking an answer to a question right?” She finished packing the snow and backed away. She used her arm as a sight and aligned the perfect angle to throw the snowball up towards the top of spire.

“Think you can hit it on the first try?” Edward joked.

“I’m a robot, this is easy.” She aligned the shot and threw the snowball as hard as she could. The snowball zipped past the spire, having been caught by the wind. Edward erupted into laughter as Kinsley gave a soured look towards him. “Right, should probably take wind into effect.” She held her pinky up into the air and felt its breeze, allowing her to calculate its temperature and speed. “Alright, Here we go.” She said, building another snowball and tossing it up to the spire. It hit the tip and broke off a small piece near the top, Kinsley watched as the two pieces fell all the way down and crashed into the ground, leaving craters behind. “Edward look! They made holes in the ground! How fascinating!”

“Indeed, the snow on the ground is fresh and loosely packed. I predict it will become much sturdier after a day or two in the sun. A simple application of physics.” Kinsley took another snowball and threw it at the spire again, upon colliding with it at full speed a sharp cracking noise was heard throughout the fields. Kinsley was startled by it and didn’t know what she had just hit.

“Is… there something in there after all?” She said to Edward.

“Perhaps you should dig a little deeper?” Kinsley did as Edward suggested and dug back into the spire, she eventually felt the odd sensation of hot glass as she tapped it.

“I… feel glass?” She said in a confused tone, uncovering more of the spire and realizing the entire structure was made of glass. “Edward, these are glass spires! Buried in the snow!”

“What are they doing here?” Said Edward, The two did not have long to ponder their question. Kinsley became spooked as a sharp crack zipped past the opening she dug. More cracking sounds were heard from the spire she damaged. When she looked up at the noises, she noticed the top of the spire suddenly bent in two different places. She got up from the base and ran away as the entire spire came collapsing down, echoing cracking sounds throughout the field. She and Edward were caught as the collapsing spire blew snow in every direction and fell onto the two. Kinsley was knocked to the ground and partially buried. Edward taken from her hood. It was only when she came to her senses that she noticed he was missing.

“Ah! Edward! Edward where are you!?” She looked around in a frenzy, trying to located any signs of her companion. Calling for his name, her eyes caught the sight of a black object in the snow. She reached down and plopped the little rabbit out. “Oh Edward I was so worried! Are you okay!?” She looked him over and didn’t see much, if any, damage. Even his monocle was fully intact.

“Oh good heavens!” He said, taking a deep breath and coughing. “Not to worry my dear! I may be proper, but I am still a rabbit, a little snow does me no harm! But regardless. We should not touch the rest of these and continue, lest we temp fate hand’s to not be so merciful.”

“Agreed, I’m so sorry…” She hugged him dearly and stood back up, looking back at the newly formed crater, she saw a metal rod sticking out from where the spire was, broken at the midsection and glowing an orange color. “Wha-What?” Kinsley became a little anxious and confused. “There’s metal in the spires? But I thought…”

“Kinsley! Look! Over there!” Edward had managed to catch her attention, just beyond a few spires ahead of them. Kinsley heard the faint sounds of talking and heard movement echoing in the forest of spires. She eventually saw a figure, dressed in clothes she never saw before. He was a younger human, a kind of human that Kinsley only saw in distant memories. He was wearing some type of uniform, each piece seemed to match with the rest. Kinsley’s heart froze and sank into her stomach when she noticed the rifle he had in his hands.

“It’s another human, he… He has a gun!” Kinsley recalled the word for one, remembering the gun on the wall of her makeshift dining room at the tower. She quickly scrambled and ran back to another spire, moving to the other side of it and hiding from the stranger. She couldn’t take the risk of meeting someone who was armed. She didn’t know if he hated her kind or not. She noticed he was rather young. "Is that a child? He looks so much younger compared to..."

“Hey Alexei! You hear that sound too!? Where is it!” Another noise erupted behind her, familiar sounds of movement could be heard approaching her, much faster than before.

“Walter? Over here! Bring Bernard and the others! One of our spires fell!” Kinsley attempted to run away from the two, her movements were stopped when more people were seen ahead, running up to the spires from beyond the forest.

“Alexei! Did you hear that screaming!? I think someone might have been buried!”

“What? I didn’t hear anything! Who was it!?” Kinsley tried to hide as she started breathing heavily, a horrible nervousness gripping her body.

“Me and Siegfried thought it was a girl, tell the captain to bring shovels and a blanket!” Kinsley had suddenly been surrounded on all sides by sounds of people yelling and footsteps. “Richard! Get the tent ready!” another screamed.

“Kinsley this isn’t good!” Edward warned, “We’re going to be spotted if we don’t do something!” Kinsley waited on one side of a spire as two of the humans ran past her carrying equipment. She started frantically moving piles of snow out of a hill at the base of the spire as the sounds of shuffling metal and leather beset her on all sides. “Hurry Kinsley, I can hear them getting closer!” Edward said, people arriving and trading equipment with one another. She dug out a hole just big enough for her small frame to climb into. She reached out and scooped up all the snow she had dug and covered the entrance, leaving a tiny slit she could see out of. Many different soldiers run passed her hidey hole, each one intriguing her more so than the next.

“Where did all these people come from?” She asked, still unsure how she missed everyone on her way here.

“I’m not sure, you’ve never seen humans walking around the tower before?” Kinsley shook her head no.

“I…” It occurred to her that she’s never seen anyone in this world, not even any straglers walking past her tower. “I haven’t, that’s a good point Edward. Where was everyone all those years?”

“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS GOING ON HERE!” The commotion came to a sudden stop and Kinsley could barely make out the sounds of movement. The person in front of her was wearing much more elaborate clothing, adored with pins and badges. Kinsley could barely move as she feared this man finding her, tightly gripping Edward and hoping he wouldn’t look down. He started yelling again and marched himself over to the fallen spire. Kinsley 'felt' light headed as her brain struggled to process so much new information. She took a breath of relief as she was still safe for the moment. “WHO BROKE THIS!” He screamed, his voice echoing for miles. Kinsley could hear the faint sounds of stammering before he was interrupted. “EXCUSES WON’T SAVE YOU HERE ALEXEI! GIVE ME A NAME, WHO BROKE THIS SPIRE!” Kinsley couldn’t make out what was being said, only that someone was explaining the situation. “You expect me to believe a girl is out here? By herself!? In the middle of our spires!?” More voices spoke this time, talking over one another to defend their brother in arms. “Alright- ALRIGHT! SHUT UP! DIG A RING AROUND THE BASE AND GET HER OUT THEN! Richard! Get the platoon out here RIGHT now! Contact Jennifer and have her send out a couple Hazers to get this spire fixed!”

“Oh no… there’s more of them!?” Kinsley said.

“A whole platoon of them Kinsley, this area could be packed with upwards of fifty soldiers.” Edward explained, the both of them scared to death of the situation they were in. “We can’t wait and hope they don’t check our spire, it could be hours before they disperse. We have to move!”

“But I, I…” Kinsley was nervous to leave, she didn’t want to consider what would happen if they caught her.

“It’ll be alright, I’m right here. Take deep breaths. Just be aware of your surroundings and don’t overthink it. Peer out of the hole and ensure no one is nearby.” Edward’s words reached her and she slowly pulled some of the snow out from the slit in her covering. She widened the gap little by little, looking around and failing to see anyone. There were only sounds of scattered voices and equipment behind her. She crawled out and looked through the scattered spires, not a soul to be found. It was only when she looked back that she could see the humans, digging and moving piles of snow everywhere.

“The rest of them haven’t arrived yet, now’s my chance!” Kinsley whispered, taking Edward up into her arms and bolting away from the group. She hoped to run as fast as ever, wishing to escape from these people and continue towards the city. She was worried however, were these people from the city? Did they hate her? They seemed decent, but the world hated machines, yet their spires contained metal? She made her escape with these questions confusing her, slowing her processes down. She managed to pass another of the monoliths before she stopped dead in her tracks.

“I found my shovel guys…” His voice trailed down as he emerged from behind another structure of glass and metal. His face was confused, unable to process what he was looking at. “A...A robot?” He stammered. The two stared at each other as his eyes looked down at the toy she was carrying. Kinsley could see the subtle movements of his mouth as it opened wider, she desperately shook her head to convince him otherwise but it was too late. “HEY GUYS! I FOUND SOMETHING!”

Kinsley turned around and saw the entire group was now looking directly at her. They dropped their shovels and grabbed the rifles hanging at their sides. Kinsley was spotted, and her spine felt like it could snap from the shock. She started to panic and immediately kicked the soldier in front of her in the stomach before running deeper into the spire forest. The group of soldiers began to chase her as she heard loud whistles around her. The soldiers using them to alert other people as she heard screaming. She didn’t bother to decipher what was said, only that the group was now tailing her when she looked behind her. None of them were shooting, not wanting to damage another spire and get into even more trouble. They were baffled by what they were chasing, a metal girl. It was only now, deep in the spire forest, that Kinsley could see how numerous they were. She tried to keep to a straight path but it was easy to get turned around as the spires had no pattern to their placements, no even rows or consistent spacing. Up ahead only stood more of them, each of equal height. She made a break for it as the soldiers gained on her, getting closer every second. What was only a few feet away felt like a universe was traveled in her panic. The soldier she kicked had already caught back up to her. Determination in his face to catch her, almost scowling at her. She was the only proof that they didn’t damage the spire, and he was not about to suffer the consequences of blame. The angry individual could only have this look for so long however. Kinsley seeing all of it flushing from his face. He suddenly stopped so hard in his tracks that he fell over. 

She looked ahead of her and noticed that while indeed there we more spires, there was also no more land. She attempted to stop but flew right over the edge of a cliff and began to fall. The drop was a large one, Kinsley seeing the spires going all the way down to the ground she was careening towards. She desperately reached out and managed to grab hold of the spire’s mid section, spinning around it and coming to a stop. The impact shook snow lose and exposed the glass from near the top. Her arms were badly shaking and she was taking short, erratic breaths. Soon enough, she heard cracking sounds and this spire bent over as well. “NOT AGAIN!” she screamed as the spire started to fall.

She collided with a loud thud as she gripped Edward close, knocking some of her components about and causing her eyes to glitch out for a second. Her diagnostics confirmed nothing was critically damaged as she got up from the fall, but she felt a piece of glass in her hand. Edward had broken his monocle again, it was cracked and now a piece had been snapped out of the center lens. “Oh Edward… I’m sorry, your monocle broke again…”

“Dear me! no need to worry about that trivial thing! We nearly fell to our deaths! That was spectacular work Kinsley! We’ve managed to escape those ruffians and survived! Oh my I may be getting too old for these adventures. I belong in a study most definitely.” Edward was still feeling the excitement of having escaped the soldiers, wanting to get back on track towards the city.

“What the hell is your problem jerk!?” A voice echoed from above the cliffside, Kinsley could see the soldiers lined up and staring at her with angry faces, the one that had caught her screaming at her. “Stop breaking our spires! We’re gonna get in a lot of trouble with the captain!”

“Sorry!” Kinsley yelled, “I didn’t mean too! I don’t know if you wanted to kill me or not!” The soldiers were taken aback, they didn’t expect this metal girl to start speaking and apologizing to them.

“Wha- Well maybe I should now! I order you to get back up here machine!” Kinsley felt no obligation to follow his order.

“Sorry! I gotta get moving and I would rather not be captured by you! See ya!” Kinsley placed Edward back into her hood and started to walk away from the cliff of snow. The soldier was flabbergasted at the odd entity in front of him.

“What!? Hey come back! You own me for kicking me in the stomach!” The other soldiers started laughing at him and patted him on the shoulders before they retreated. “Come on Private, we ain’t catching up to her, unless you want to jump off the cliff yourself and break another spire, in which case **I’D** kill you.” The soldier saw Kinsley walk away without saying another word before finally turning around and heading back with the others. The questions of who or what he just encountered still rang in his head. For a death machine, he thought she was kind of cute.

***

The quiet boredom of before was now a welcomed ambient of peace. The winds did not let up their strength as Kinsley walked. She approached another cliff side on the opposite end of the fields she fell into. “Well, now what are we gonna do.” She was annoyed at her current situation, wishing that soldier hadn’t ousted her. “If only that jerk didn’t cause us to fall down here. I would rather not waste time looking for another way out.”

“It is best to not dwindle on such things,” Edward said, “We are better off figuring a way out of here.” He started thinking about methods to scale the snowy cliff. “Well we do not currently possess any tools to scale it. But maybe it is soft enough for your hands to grip it?” Kinsley looked down at her skeletal hands.

“Maybe… might put these horrific designs to a practical use for once.” Her eyes were suddenly drawn near the bottom of the cliff. As they got closer to the wall there was an opening that Kinsley noticed, half covered in snow. “Look! A cave! Heh, guess my hands can continue to be useless I guess.” She dug out the opening and looked inside, her metallic vocal chords played the sound of whistling when she saw an expansive cave of snow and ice. “Wo~~~w. This looks pretty cool!”

“What fascinating structures. I wonder how this was formed, this implies that the entire cliff side is comprised of nothing but snow. That can’t be correct though, right?” Edward was lost in thought as Kinsley walked into the cave.

“I can see a path in here, it might lead us back to the top, or maybe even the city itself!” Kinsley’s spirits were lifted, she entered the cave with a little hop, skip, and a jump before continuing. ”A cave that is forged out of ice, how weird. Do you think this was man made Edward?”

“Perhaps, but even then I cannot devise how one would do so.” The two were in awe as the ceiling and floor were connected by pillars, flowing smoothly from one to another as they merged. The two walked into the unknown, taking the chance of running into a dead end for the potential reward of finding the best path forward. “Kinsley…” Edward said nervously, unsure how Kinsley would take to the question he was about to ask. “I… was just simply curious, if you wish not to answer you may choose so. But... What is it about your arms that makes you hate them? You’ve made so many things with them yet you seem to only want to be rid of them.”

Kinsley stared at her hands, taking in the horrid details from them. “They make me look like something I’m not.” She replied, “All they do is get in the way, they shake and never feel right when they’re connected to me. I feel like I’m lurching them like a corpse just to get them to move. What child would want to see this? Or even hug these? They're disgusting. They’re useful for toys but… I can’t interact with anyone with these things. I look like a monster with these horrific hands.”

“But if they help you create, surely they cannot be all bad?”

“Humans create things with their hands all the time and they are certainly rounder than mine, I have fleeting memories where I use to have far better ones, softer ones. But now I’m stuck with these wretched excuse for hands.” She crossed her arms and hugged herself.

“I’m terribly sorry this happened. I shouldn’t have asked.” Edward cursed his sense of curiosity for making Kinsley think about something that obviously upsets her. “But I always try to see the advantages of such arrangements, opportunities can await beyond any door. If it is any consolation, you are one of the sweetest people I’ve met, and I have met the leaders of nations.”

Kinsley reached around and gave the rabbit a little pet on his head. “As are you, my cute little rabbit.” The path began to curve around a corner as Kinsley followed it in turn. The two were astonished when they rounded it as off the path of snow Kinsley could see a large stone house built into the side of the cave. It looked like a cottage taken straight from an oil painting. “I thought these didn’t exist anymore! It’s a real house Edward! Oh I’ve always wanted to go inside one of these!”

“Careful Kinsley, homes tend to be occupied by all sorts of characters.” She cautiously approached the home, seeing a fenced in box on the side of it. Leaning over, she couldn’t see much through the frosted windows.

“I can’t see inside of it. Let’s see if anyone’s home.” Kinsley tried to knock on the door.

“Kinsley what are you doing?” Edward nearly forgot Kinsley was much akin to a curious teenager sometimes. He wondered if that was an innate or learned quality.

“Maybe someone can help us or point us in the right direction, I dunno, I don’t think scary people would live in a place like this.” She shrugged her shoulders and smiled optimistically at her friend. The two waited at the door for approximately twenty-four seconds. She knocked on the door again and waited an additional twenty-two seconds. She tried to jiggle the handle and noticed it was locked.

“Kinsley why did you try to open it.” he anxiously wanted to continue and leave the home behind seeing as no one was here, for good or for ill.

“Well I was just uh… Ahem, how about we continue?” Edward shifted his eyelids down as Kinsley tried to smile as best she could. “There’s footsteps in the snow so we could follow these and see if we can find anyone.”

“There’s no need for that little one.” Kinsley screamed as a third voice entered the conversation. She zipped around and saw who was talking, emerging from another pathway in the cave. Kinsley’s arm started shaking and she backed into the door. “Oh no little one worry not! I did not mean to scare you! I saw what happened with the spires, I’m not one of them.” The stranger was very old, her white hair tied with a red ribbon. She wore a big jacket and winter boots, carrying two ski poles as she made her way up to Kinsley.

“I-I-Is this your house miss?” Kinsley stammered, the old woman walking up and offering her hand. Kinsley slowly met it with her own, ready for if she tried anything. The old woman just shook it and unlocked the door.

“Indeed it is, wayward nanny, allow me to introduce myself as Jane.” She saw Kinsley’s hands, making a few notes in her head. Someone else had met her before yet she could not tell who may have repaired her.

“I-I’m Kinsley.” She said in a timid tone. The woman came off as a bit odd to her, not quite sure how to read someone as friendly as herself yet. 

“It’s a truly special thing to meet you Kinsley. You know, life’s a funny thing. It often doesn’t give you something until you’ve just about given up on it.” She pinched Kinsley’s cheeks and opened the door. “Don’t let the following scare you little one. Despite the world’s current state I am here to help you. Although I am not the only one who wishes to see you restored to your former radiance.” She pressed a nearby button as a series of lights turned on. The final light illuminated a table with a nandroid perched on it, missing it’s arms and legs. It was wearing a dirty and torn maid outfit as its black hair laid tied in a ponytail. Kinsley gasped and placed her hands over her mouth, what she was seeing was unbelievable. It was another of her, shut down and unresponsive. The woman took a seat in a rather large chair and looked at her with a smirk. “Now then, you can either continue where ever it is you’re going. Or you can come in for a drink and we can talk. Make your choice quickly little one, you’re letting the heat out.”

***

Kinsley couldn’t sit as the fireplace crackled, only staring with fascination at the nandroid in front of her. She was gripping one of her arms, a thousand questions ran through her mind. Who was she? What was her name? How did she get here? Were there any others? Was she nice? She wanted to talk to her but only saw a shell. She felt like she finally found a kindred spirit, but it was locked away by the hands of time.

“That is indeed a robotic, nanny android. Although there is next to nothing I can tell you about her. She was a recent find.” The old lady explained, “We call you nandroids for short. She, many others, and even yourself, were meant to be the greatest robots ever devised. Of course, I never saw how advanced and important you were back then. To me you were just someone who looked out for me, someone I could talk to about things I couldn’t with my folks. A dear friend.”

“You… you use to have a nandroid?” Kinsley asked, still unable to tear her eyes away from the one on the table. She moved a hole in the dress aside, seeing her power core was missing. She was lost forever.

The old lady took the pot off of her stove and poured her hot tea into a cup. “Yes I did. She was the best one of them all, no offense.”

“So, you were alive all the way back when these were commonplace? What were they like? How was your nandroid? How did they care for their children? Is this what they all wore? Do you have a pair for me?” The old lady put her hand up to silence Kinsley’s questioning.

“There were indeed a great many of you back then, each one was bought and assigned to one singular family. They would then help them to-” Kinsley was a little impatient and excited. Wanting to skip past the boring bits.

“I already know about that stuff, I mean how did they help the children? How did they care for them? Did nandroids ever get to talk to each other? What was it like to watch them grow?” The old lady paused while she took a drink of her tea, smiling and tittering to herself.

“Quite the inquisitive one… were you ever assigned to a family?” Kinsley sighed in her solitude. So much was promised and prepared for her, and in an instant it was all viciously taken.

“I… never got a family… I only remember bits and pieces but. I think the truck that was carrying me crashed. I remember trying to crawl out of the rubble, listening to everyone panic and then, it all goes fuzzy. I can only remember being at the bottom of some… some cave, some pit. I see the light above me and I try to block it with my hands. I feel something move, but my hand never covers it. I curse myself, I feel like an idiot, but can’t remember why.” The old woman shook her head in disappointment.

“What a sad thing, I’m sorry you never got the chance. Nandroids came out during a time of great worry and great strife. The current generation was feeling overwhelmed with trying to care for their children. There was a man, I think his name was John Sterling, ring any bells?” Kinsley nodded as the old lady continued. “Good. He was in charge of the greatest robotics corporation in the world. Sterling Robotics. They had this funny little idea, what if we made a robot that could aid a family? Combine the best technology from around the world and make the most sophisticated android. They would do some of the chores around the home, watch the children, take them to and from school, ensure they were fed. They would ease the burden from their parents, giving them peace and comfort. I remember all the nandroids in our neighborhood would talk to each other, usually gossiping about any such thing.”

“That sounded… perfect, really.” Kinsley’s face was melancholy, longing to any means of going back to such a time. To see and talk to robots like her.

“It wasn’t, being a nandroid was tough. You had to deal with something as rambunctious and crazed as a young child, you were expected to carry it out with distinction, with dignity and above all,” she raised a finger to emphasize her final point, “With near perfection for the rest of your existence.”

“So then, what happened?” Kinsley asked, the old woman staring at her as she raised her cup to take another drink.

“Well, we didn’t know then because we were well-to-do children in a protected neighborhood. But the world was beginning to hate itself again, like it always does. ‘We live in a world of scarcity’ they would tell us. So then came the death, the suffering, the usual rigmarole. But this time we pushed things too far. So what do you see now? A world of endless snow. A world in which humans themselves are now a scarce resource, is the result of our foolishness. We were always guests in mother nature’s abode, it took this to remind us of that. I still remember that day… so many lights throughout the sky. Most of you were wiped out quickly, your minds wiped clean as the magnetic effect tore through ever fiber of your being. What remained tried to help, but… problems, both new and old, decimated the remainder. I’m sorry but, really, you are the last. Of all nandroids, medbots, botlers, everything, you are the last active robot on the face of the earth.” 

Kinsley got closer to the girl and place her hand on her cheek. She saw her oddly colored optics and experienced a dreadful feeling of loss. She longed to see her eyes light up the way hers did. For her to come alive as she did. But all that remained was a husk. “I feel… so weird when I stare at her. Whenever I think about the others I always get the feeling like I’m missing a dear friend, even though I’ve never met any of them.”

“Interesting.” The woman said, pouring more tea for herself from the hot kettle. “I believe I was told you mimic the need to have confidants. It’s normal for nandroids to make friends with one another, some were astonished at how easy they bonded with each other. But… well I guess that’s where I come into play.”

“You? How so? Where did you find this girl and why did you bring her here?” Kinsley’s melancholy became too much as she forcefully drove her eyes away from the nandroid. She slowly walked over to the old lady and sat in the chair opposite hers.

“I assume you’re going to the city from wherever you came from yes?” Kinsley nodded, staring into the bright fire. “Of course, now a lot of people in that city don’t exactly like your kind. Rather than learn responsibility, they would rather carry on like they always have. So when they saw robots and machines as a problem, they simply got rid of them. Well, tried to of course. But I and a few others still believe they can do great things. I’ve spent my life excavating what’s left of the world trying to find what I can. You'd be surprised what's in these piles of snow. I’ve found quite a bit and what I’ve found as helped immeasurably. Computer chips and power sources. Cranks and gears, light sources, and now you.”

“What made you want to do that?” Kinsley interrupted.

The woman looked down at her cup of tea and smiled at her. “Well… we made a mistake, been making it for decades now. I need to convince my fellow fools to stop with these immature paranoid notions. Need to find another of you to help me do that. I…” She circled the top of her cup with her fingers as she stared at the tea inside of it. “Well, my nandroid was a wonderful thing. But… One thing led to another and one day, she was no longer there for me. I thought I didn’t need her, that I could move on. But in my time on this planet I’ve come to see I was only partially correct. I scour what I can and in truth we don’t necessarily need them but… Well I guess a part of me prays that one day I’ll find her. I’ll get to hug her one last time.” She paused before looking up at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts. “That I’ll get to say… I’m sorry.”

Kinsley placed her hand on hers, “I… I hope you find her.”

“Thank you, but, that may come later. Now, you are very important. If you are trying to get to the city, I can assure you it is not very far from here. You can easily make it tonight if you run into no other problems.” Kinsley’s face lit up brighter than the fire next to them.

“Oh Edward, we’re closer to the city than I thought!” The woman’s face looked confused as Kinsley reached around and grabbed the doll.

“Oh? And who is Edward?” Kinsley’s face snapped to her as her cheeks grew more red.

“Oh um, this is him, he is uh, a, traveler, and um, scientist and uh-”

“Oh ho ho, don’t mind it at all dear, I understand. Where did you find it?” Kinsley handed the doll to the woman as she traced the features of it with her finger.

“I… made him.”

“You? You made this?” She handed the doll back to her as her cheeks grew more red.

“Y-Yes… Back where I lived I… I can make toys. I can make things with metal or cloth.” Kinsley hugged the doll as the woman stared at the two in deep contemplation.

“Do you know what this means?” She said, much to Kinsley’s confusion. “It means, this is how we get them to accept you!”

“I’m afraid I don’t quite follow?” The woman put her hand on Kinsley’s shoulder and moved her closer.

“Now see, people don’t like machines, don’t like robots, they think they’ll destroy them all. But if we show them a nandroid like you, one that is still able to work. If we show them you can make something as innocent as toys. They’ll see you mean them no harm at all. It’s perfect! Oh thank the stars for keeping you alive!” She rose from her chair and opened a drawer on the stand next to the fireplace. “Look,” she said as she offered Kinsley a metallic badge. “This is a badge that all citizens of the city use to get in. If you show the door guards this they should let you right inside and to the administrators of the whole city, we can figure things out from there.”

“Really? You’re letting me have this?” She said, taking it and pinning it onto Edward’s suit.

“Those guards never ask me for it anyway, this is the best, and safest, option. The leaders have told me that they will hold an audience with the next robot I find to convince them to keep you.” She led Kinsley to the front door and walked outside. “Now if you follow that path, you’ll climb straight up the cliff and emerge onto the landscape up top. If you walk from there in the direction that the moon sets, you’ll reach the city in no time. If you want to get there around dinner time, you should go now.”

“What about you? Will you go with me?” Kinsley asked, looking down the path and seeing how steep it could get.

“I would love to little one, but those shellheads are going to be scouring this area soon. I have to reach the captain before he sends his people after you.” Kinsley didn’t like the idea of traveling alone in a strange place again.

“Could I go with you instead? We can travel with them after you order them to stop.” Jane gave Kinsley a pat on her head in assurance.

“Technically, I cannot order them to do anything. I can only convince. They have orders to bring you or any other robots they find into the city. But I do not trust them. If I have them take a poor helpless lady like myself back there, they’ll avoid you. We’ll have to go around the crevice you fell into but we’ll probably get to the city before you on our horse and carriages. Do not wander from your path lest we run into you, go straight for the city.” Again, Kinsley would be alone. But having a confidant in the world gave her the slightest bit of happiness.

“Okay, I understand. Straight for the city. Thank you, I feel a little better about… everything.” The two traded smiles and shook each other’s hands farewell.

“Don’t worry little one, I’ll see you in the city, under happier times.” The two stood there for a moment, not sure what else needed doing. Kinsley could only become overwhelmed with emotion at this kind lady as she suddenly wrapped her arms around her and hugged her deeply. The woman was caught off guard, but returned the hug in turn, feeling the warmth from Kinsley in the cold wind of the cave they were both standing in. “You’ll be fine Kinsley, for now and forevermore. Go, I’ll meet you later.” The two bid each other farewell and went their separate ways. Kinsley saw the woman turn the corner she came through and disappear. Herself heading into the opening that led back to the surface. The feelings in her heart were bittersweet. She didn’t know how to process such things. She secretly hoped the woman would be successful, or someone at least. That one day, she could meet one of her fellow robots for the first time…

***

The pathway became more steep and narrow the further Kinsley walked. So much so that she had to start climbing up ledges made of snow as she barely fit in what was quickly becoming a tunnel. “I can only wonder how that woman manages to navigate these caves.” Kinsley wondered out loud.

“This reminds me of the ice caves I explored during my trip to the arctic, oh what fun times those were! Me and my compatriots had managed to stop some swindling thieves from stealing the rare long-nosed chimaera!” Edward was holding on with his arms wrapped around Kinsley’s neck, checking and double checking that the city badge was secured on his suit. “Those ruffians thought they had us by the sword, but oh no! Our ingenuity with flares and wood was far greater than theirs!”

“With an adventure like that in your past, this must seem like nothing.” Kinsley quipped, the ledges getting higher and the tunnel only shrinking in size.

“Whether it is the adventures of the world or an exploration of nature’s design. The fifth or fiftieth time never ceases to excite. Especially one as personal as this.” Edward had helped many people. He discovered lost treasures and help uncover history long since buried. But never had he helped a friend. A fact he has long since wished to change.

“Well...ugh, hope you’ve had fun resting in my hood. Cause this is only getting harder to climb.” The ledges were getting to be such that Kinsley had to use her feet to help push herself up. The walls were further encroaching as she could barely move without brushing up against one.

“I’ve done my time of climbing, fighting, and riding vehicles through impossible obstacles. I think I’ve earned the right to sit in a comforting and snug hood. Especially one this warm.” Kinsley laughed at watching this ‘gentlemen’ admit to finding her dress’ hood pleasant.

“Well we hope you’ll enjoy our robotic automated travel services, please keep your paws and feet inside the hood at all times. In the event of an emergency, please make your way to the front, back, left, or right side of the hood and jump as high as you can. You know Edward, after we reach the city you can rest in the hood again if you want to.” Edward didn’t respond, merely clearing his throat and looking away, much to Kinsley amusement. Her arm was suddenly impeded when reaching for another ledge in the tiny tunnel. Kinsley’s eyes looked up, seeing that there was no path further up. “What? There’s just a ceiling? No that can’t be right! After all the climbing I did!?”

“One must meet the unexpected with a calm mind Kinsley, to discover what may be closer than we think. After all, I do not believe the woman from before would intentionally guide us up here if there was no way out.”

“Hmm. Well let’s see.” Kinsley tried to climb as high as she could and placed her hand up against the ceiling. Trying to push against it, she could feel some of the snow moving above her. Kinsley took her hand and stretched her spikey fingers out, reeling it back to prepare to pierce the ceiling above her. She could feel that her arm could move back not an inch more, and drove it upwards as hard as she could.

“Hey Hat, where do you reckon Jane ran off too?” he said.

“I dunno Hick. Hey Hip, where do you reckon Jane ran off too?” he said.

I dunno Hat. Hey Half, where do you reck-”

“She’s going to where that noise is stupid. Keep shoveling.” Half said.

“O~~~h. Hey Hat, she’s going to where the noise was.” Hip said.

“O~~~h. Hey Hick, she’s going to where the noise was.” Hat said.

“O~~~h. Hey Half, she’s going to where the noise was.” Hick said.

“I know ya nincompoop! Keep shoveling!” Half said, threatening to hit someone with his shovel as they dug up snow and placed it into their backpacks. Hick returned to his work, picking up a glob of snow. He barely noticed something hit his shovel with a stifled thud. He tried to go for another scoop and hit something when he dug. He aimed a little higher and shoveled more snow out of the way, a hand in a light blue sleeve broke through and emerged from the ground. The arm tried to retreat into the snow but it seemed as though it was stuck above ground. It started to flail around in a panic, Hick being left totally confuse as to who it belonged to.

“Hey Hip, I think I pulled up a living arm.” Hip turned around and shuffled over to Hick. Looking down at the flailing arm with equal confusion to him.

“Hey Hat, come look at this arm.” Hat came over and the three stood in place, watching this arm flail and thrash about, trying to recede back into the ground.

Half’s annoyance reached another peak as he saw that now all three of his useless cohorts were ignoring their assigned work. “STOP MUCKING ABOUT! GET BACK TO WORK!” The three only pointed down at the flailing hand. Half instantly became as confused and invested as the other three. The four of them now staring at this flailing arm in the ground. “Hmm. So, is this a new type of plant?” Asked Half. The arm eventually went limp and fell onto the ground, unmoving as the group became worried.

“Oh no I killed it!” Yelled Hick.

“Ah shutup ya poor sod!” Half grabbed the arm and gave it a strong yank, he pulled out a young girl wearing a light blue and white winter dress with a rabbit doll in its hood. The girl’s cheeks grew red as she landed in front of four rather tall people. The four were wearing trench coats and had hunchbacks, they were bald and had winter hates on, scarves, and a pair of black goggles. They were carrying large leather bags on their backs with snow in it and wielding shovels.

“Uh~~~~ hi there.” Kinsley said, still reeling from getting hoisted through the ground.

Hat and Hip leaned in closer and studied the odd thing in front of them, surely it wasn’t human, but it looked like one and talked like one. “Whadda figure this thing is Hick?” Said Hip.

Kinsley’s embarrassment became more pronounced at having all four of the strangers studying her. Hick leaned out a singular large finger and tapped her forehead. “I dunno Hip, looks like a girl, but she’s made a metal, is she an invander?”

“Actually I’m a rob-” She was interrupted from speaking further by Half tapping her neck. Hat tapped her arm and while Hip started tapping her head, finding amusement in the act and chuckling to themselves. Kinsley slapped his hand away as the four all recoiled in shock. “Hey that’s enough! I can feel that you dorks!”

“Oh, sorry.” Hip’s apology spoke to the four not knowing what Kinsley was, unable to figure it out quite yet.

Kinsley put one hand on her hips, “As I was saying, I’m…” She hesitated, failing to decide if she should reveal her true nature to these folks.

“Oh, wait…” Hat’s brains put the two pieces of information together, getting his brain to jump-start and output the answer to his conciousness. “You’re one of those… Uh, metal people, metal person. Stealbot? No wait, Steelbot. Irongal. A Logbot. Rhodiumhumanium.”

“She’s a ‘ROW-BOT’, idiot.” Half corrected, rolling his eyes and taking in the glory of knowing more than him.

“O~~~h. Hey Hick, that’s a rowbot.” Hat said. Standing in silence with a big grin, satisfied with his answer.

Kinsley waited for the panic and screaming to start after being found out, she was preparing to jump back into the hole they yanked her from. Contrarily however the group just stood there staring as they studied something they never saw before. She raised her eyebrow as the wind blew through all five of them. “So… you’re not gonna do anything? Or should I start running?”

“Uh, I dunno” said Hick. “I think I remember them telling us to do something if we found a rowbit, but I can’t remember.” He started thinking harder than necessary to remember, only hurting his muscles in the process. “Nah I got nothing.”

“Well here then,” Kinsley took Edward out of her hood and showed the four the badge that was pinned to it. “You guys are from the city right? This will get me inside?”

“Oh! You wanna go to King’s Meadow! Well darn, we’ll take ya there!” Hip exclaimed.

“Oh no we won’t, we got shovelin’ to do.” Half corrected, turning Hip’s head to face him.

“But Cap, she’s never been to tha city before, she’ll get all lost. I still do sometimes!” Hat reasoned by his own experiences, once getting lost for a week straight until just winding back on a familiar road randomly after wandering. He was scared, but met a lot of nice people along the way, wanting to help Kinsley in a similar situation.

“Shovel first, help later.” Half left the group and started picking up snow again.

“Is the city that big?” Kinsley queried. Thinking the place was more akin to a village from the books she would read in the tower.

“Biggest ever!” Hat said, “The city is the biggest thing I’ve ever seen! You can’t even see it all at once! Beautiful too!”

“Sorry we can’t take you there…” Hip said, looking dejected and slowly shoveling snow into his bag.

“Well, I’d rather not waste more time but… It would also be nice if I had some friends to show me around… Could even make a great first impression on the people there.” Kinsley considered her options. According to the woman the city was not very far, the potential to have humans who could show the population she meant no harm would be a fantastic first step and could alleviate some of the dangers Kinsley could face in the city. “Okay, you all seem like good people, how about I help fill these bags with you?”

Hip’s dejected attitude vanished, gasping in excitement and hugging Kinsley. “That would be great robbot! Tell us, what’s your name?”

“Ugh, It’s Kinsley” she said, struggling to talk from Hip’s bear hug.

The three stood in a line and bowed, taking off their winter caps, each introducing themselves. “I’m Hip! Hat! Hick!”

“And I’m Half.” he said, shoveling snow into his pack as he refused to turn to face the group.

“Once we fill these bags with snow, to the city we shall go! With you in tow, of course.” Hat said. Winking at Kinsley as she giggled.

She placed Edward back in her hood and started gathering snow with the others, using her bare hands. She listened to them sing their jaunty tunes about traveling through the tundra, dealing with ‘Ruffian Soldiers’ and ‘blizzards aplenty’ in their quest for snow.

Hip balled his hand into a fist and began to sing a solo. “Fo~~~~r we, the snow miners of the Ki~~~ng’s Meadow! Shall power your city! Our intercommunity, filled with sentimentality!”

“To survive in the winter due to our Monospecificity!” Hat finished. A snowball hit him and Hip in the back of their heads as they remained unflinching.

“Shovel please!” Said Half, wanting to get back to the city sometime tonight as he threatened to throw another one at Hick.

Kinsley tried to scoop up large sums of snow with her arms, finding some parts of the tundra harder than others. “Is there anything in particular I should be looking out for or…”

“Nah,” said Hick, “We’re technically out here to excavate but that plan got old about four decades back, now we just use all this snow to power the city.”

“The city is **powered**!? As in, electricity?” Kinsley was shocked, more and more she learned that this city that ‘hated’ machines, had quite a bit of it.

“Well, kinda? I think?” Hat added, the full details were something no one knew.

“Hey don’t go tellin’ her about that stuff!” Half had interjected, staring Kinsley down. “And you shouldn’t be nosying on a stranger’s business. Why do you want to go there anyway? You know they’ll kick you out as as soon as you show up if not worse.”

“Hmph, that’s MY business, of which you shouldn’t nosy in either then, especially a girl’s.” Kinsley crossed her arms and lifted her head away. He was amused that a robot was capable of back talking him.

“Alrighty then Kinsley,” He said while shrugging, “Just be warned, There are a great many things that a great many people don’t know.”

“I know a lot of things!” Hip yelled in the distance, Half taking a breath of annoyance and returning to his work.

Kinsley finally put the last of the snow into their backpacks, Hip offering to dry her hands using his coat. “Phew, that’s the last of it! That was faster than I thought it would be.”

Hat gave Kinsley a tap on the shoulder to indicate the good job she did, doing the same to his other coworkers “Of course! Five is better than four after all! Time to head on home!”

The group started walking, the moon lighting the flat tundras ahead of them, acting as their guiding light back home. Kinsley took a liking to these fellows, with their sing-song attitudes and sense of humor. Despite her previous encounters with humans, she was happy to have finally found some who were of the pleasant variety. They fascinated her, her brain processing new methods of interactions, new emotions and expressive techniques. The sudden influx of new data was overwhelming at times, even her state-of-the-art processors had trouble keeping up cataloging it all. She felt a desperate itch finally getting scratched out of her, like her mind had been waiting eons for this. The possibility of being rejected, tossed out, or worse was ever present, an awful end for one such as her. But she was nearly oblivious to it all, Kinsley wanted to brave all the dangers of the world, just for the singular chance of helping, interacting, and studying humans. Most importantly, she did it for the one chance to meet that which she always wanted to, a child.

***

The two guards by the large rusted sheets of metal heard the usual approaching noise of caroling from the snow miners. “Huh, here a bit early today.” One said to the other. “Well let’s let them in.” he responded. The two began to pry the makeshift metal door open before they suddenly stopped and looked at one another. They turned around after hearing a fifth voice, a young girl.

“Goo~~~d evening fellas! Here to turn in our snow for the night!” Hat had failed to notice the look of shock on the guard’s face upon seeing Kinsley behind the group.

“Hat, I-I-I-Is that a… a…” The guard was shivering and pointed at Kinsley, the four looking back at her.

“Oh, yeah, this is a rowbot, we found her growing in the snow outside. She has one of those badge thingies so we figured we could help her get to where she needs to go.” Hat said, acting as nonchalant as before about discovering something no one’s seen before.

“A robot!? A ROBOT!? HERE!? Hat do you know what you’re suppose to do in the event of seeing a robot!?”

“Uh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no. I forgot.” Hat could only shrug as the guard slammed the palm of his hand into his face. He turned to Half and started to speak before he stopped him.

“Don’t look at me, I forgot as well. She doesn’t seem that bad though so-”

“You’re suppose to CAPTURE her you braindead idiots!” Half didn’t respond, not appreciating the insult and rudeness from a jumped-up soldier.

“Oh okay, sorry. Like this?” Hat seized Kinsley’s arm and lifted her off the ground.

“AH! Hat let go of me!” She struggled to break free but failed to, the miner being too large and too strong.

The guard became anxious as soon as Hat had grabbed her. “Hey! Hey! Easy! You’re suppose to bring her back in one piece!”

“Oh I get it now.” Hat lowered Kinsley onto the floor before picking her up again with both of his hands as he bridal carried her. “This better?”

“Ugh, sure whatever. Now come on, the administrators are gonna wanna see this.”

“Oh don’t worry guys, I’ll do this right.” Hat lowered Kinsley back down onto the ground as gently as he could. “Now you ROW-BOT! You shall come with us to... HEY!”

Hat saw he was talking to an empty space, Kinsley immediatly ran from him. She started to run around the giant metal doors, seeing tall walls that seemingly housed the city she journeyed so far to reach. She had expected the city to be bigger as she ran down the wall and noticed there wasn’t much left. The guards and snow miners were on her trail and closing in. Kinsley hearing the loud thuds as they all tried to capture her. She thought she wouldn’t be able to escape until she saw a ditch up ahead with a large rusted pipe coming out of the wall. With her being out of options and her so called ‘friends’ now hunting her down. She jumped into the wide ditch and managed to grip the top of the pipe. With one smooth motion she managed to swing her body into the drainage pipe and fling herself inside. She disappeared as the guards and snow miners all stopped just short of the ditch, save for Hat who fell right in without hesitation.

“Damn! Now what are we gonna do.” The guard said, turning to the other and taking their metal hats off.

Half approached the guards and intimidated the both of them with his large stature. “Well, guess you’ll just have to get the administrators to alert the Hazard Cops now huh? But seeing as we’re all in trouble now, how about you tell me why they want her in the first place hmm?”

The guard took a gulp of nervousness at Half’s size. “Uh well… I really don’t know. But the administrators have informed us not to tell Jane should we find one, if that means anything.”

“Doesn’t to me,” Half said, “Better tell the administrators you let her get past you cause I’m getting ready for the dinner tonight.”

“Wha- I didn’t do anything! Hat did!” Half ignored them all as he headed back, tired of the day’s events. The guard prepared his excuses as the other three followed them through the metal doors into the city. All of them nervous that a robot had managed her way in, the panic she could incite among the citizens was plentiful, the damage to the trust in the administrators was innumerable, the potential she carried for the future of the city… was decent.


	3. Kinsley in the City

Kinsley slid through the drainage pipe at an alarming speed. Turns and twists in the path caused her to lose all sense of where she was in relation to the tundra she was previously on. She looked back and confirmed no one was following her. Trying to slow her descent was a useless endeavor. The entire pipe was frosted over. There was no where for her to grip and her feet could not stop or even slow her speed. She was briefly sunk into total darkness, barely able to see the walls of the pipe closest to her eyes as it flew by. Rather than zip through the opening on the other side, Kinsley saw the exit was blocked off and she collided with a hard metallic thud against it. Her eyes shut down again and she was totally blind, her internal systems rebooting them and managing to get them back online. Her legs were scuffed and her winter dress was dirtied, a newly formed hole appearing by the femur she damaged. Her systems reported only minor scratches to the shell. She was more than thankful that was all there was.

She looked around and saw a pipe connected to her pipe above her, the pipe led to an opening and she could see faint red lights beyond it. She shuffled around in the claustrophobic space, wanting to climb out as soon as possible, every second reminding her of struggling under the truck, the city panicking and burning around her. She couldn’t reach the opening but the pipe leading to it wasn’t covered in frost, it was rather warm actually. Her limbs became nimble as she pressed her hands and stubby feet against the walls of the pipe, shuffling up and climbing out with ease.

She emerged in a barely lit room, the lighting was a deep crimson red coming from inside of old rusted out machines. The room was covered in other pipes, carrying who knows what in every direction as they snaked themselves through each other. Some were connected to other pipes, others to machines, and others disappeared into the walls. “What… what is all this?” Kinsley asked.

“Oh those dastardly betrayers! Those wicked weavers of evil! If I could box like in the corps, they wouldn’t know what hit them!” Edward was furious at the snow miners, practically bouncing out of Kinsley’s hood in seething anger. “Unbelievable! This act of despicableness is downright unconscionable!”

“Edward please calm down… I don’t think they knew any better. They don’t realize people may want to hurt me.” She took him out of her hood and checked on his condition, his monocle, while still cracked and missing a piece, didn’t suffer any further damage.

“Ignorance is the lowest excuse there is.” He retorted

“Well we managed to get away from them for now, who knows if they’ll chase after us still.” Kinsley got closer to the odd machines, they were emitting a low droning sound that echoed throughout the room. “What kind of machines are these?” She couldn’t tell, they were encased in metal boxes and the only definable feature was a panel on the side. The droning continued on, despite how dead the area seemed. The sound was repetitious, repeating every eight seconds. The source seemed to be right inside of the machine itself, but it sounded like it was a long ways away. Kinsley opened the latch on the panel and took a peak inside. She could see a cylinder encasing something connected by a rod. The rod was moving back and forth in a rhythm, this thing being the suspected cause of the noise. “This looks like… Ah what was the name of it...” She remembered being shown a diagram many years ago in one of his favorite engineering history books. “Oh! A steam engine! That’s a cylinder for the piston! Which means...” She saw a box located next to the piston with a pipe connected to it that led up and out of Kinsley’s sight. “That’s the slide valve with the exhaust pipe next to it. This might be a double-acting cylinder.”

“What makes you think it’s a steam engine?” Edward didn’t want Kinsley to jump to conclusions.

“Well they said the city is powered and they help do it. I don’t know for certain of course but I’m thinking that maybe the four workers we met earlier gather snow for them to melt into water. Seem pretty ingenuous to turn all this snow into a power source. But they can’t power an entire city with just steam engines. Right?” Her quandaries were forcefully stopped as the machine shot sparks into her face and steam rushed to burn her. She slammed the panel closed and backed away as the steam threatened to damage her shell. A red light began to flash above without an audible alarm, the droning continuing in the exact same place as before.

“Kinsley… let’s get out of here.” Edward buried his face in Kinsley’s hair, resting deeper into her hood.

“Yeah… this place is creepy.” Kinsley looked for any way out, only seeing a door with a broken knob. Turning it yielded no results until she tried to force it. The knob broke off and the door suddenly swung open. Kinsley fell and landed on the floor, catching herself with her arms as she did so. She checked on Edward and noticed he nearly fell out of her hood. When she grabbed him and stood back up, for a split second she caught something out of the corner of her eye. She thought she saw a figure running down the hall, their shadow being illuminated by the red lights aligning the walls.

“Was that… someone?” Kinsley held Edward and slowly moved through the illuminated hallway. The droning sound did not grow quiet, did not grow into a loud roar. It stayed exactly where it was, unmoving. She approached the corner and slowly peered around it, seeing an opened door at the end of the hallway. She cautiously walked, each step occurring lockstep with the sound’s repetitious concert. Through the door she went, the same deep red illuminating this room as well. She began seeing an object littering the floor, few and scattered at first. Kinsley recognized them, Edward as well. “These are, hundred dollar bills?”

“Huh, it’s been ages since I’ve seen these, I doubt anyone even uses these for currency anymore.” Edward wondered to himself when or how this money got here.

Kinsley grabbed it and inspected it, everything about it seemed in order and it looked real. She could see a balding man with shoulder length hair on the front of it. She followed the path forward, the floor becoming more and more littered with hundred dollar bills. A horribly rusted out door awaited her, parts of it had broken off and the red lights on the other side shined through the holes. Sounds of shuffling paper hitting the floor could be heard the moment the door was opened.

Inside was a rather odd sight, stacks and stacks of hundred dollar bills making up a wall in the room. Edward whistling when the pair saw it. “Kinsley that has to be at least a couple billion dollars. You could buy the world with that kind of cash. Well, could being the correct term, doubt it means much these days.”

“What’s it doing here though?” She queried, Edward only able to return a half hearted shrug.

The door behind her suddenly closed, Kinsley spotting what looked to be a stranger in the red light. He approached her as she froze in fear next to the stacks of bills. “WHO SENT YOU!?” He screamed, confusing Kinsley.

“What? Who are you?” She said as the stranger walked into the red light, illuminating his face. He had a familiar set of sores across his face and some of his teeth were missing. He appeared to be very old and was nearly down to bones, barely able to wear the ripped suit he had on.

“WHO. SENT. YOU.” He yelled again.

“I-I. N-No one. I-I fell into a pipe and…”

“WHY ARE YOU HOUNDING ME!? HAVEN’T YOU DONE ENOUGH!? LEAVE!” The stranger gave Kinsley a forceful shove towards a door on the opposite side of the room. “I ALREADY TOLD ALL OF YOU, IT WASN’T MY FAULT!”

Kinsley was deeply scared and confused. “W-What wasn’t your fault?”

“WHAT YOU THINK I’M LYING!? THIS, THIS RIGHT HERE! THIS WOULD HAVE SAVED EVERYONE, IT WAS SUPPOSE TO! THIS IS HOW YOU SURVIVE!” The man took a little bit of money and placed it at Kinsley’s feet. Motioning for her to sit down, she could only get onto her knees in fear of the old man. “See look, you start with a small stack, small stack, now that’s important. Can’t start with a large stack cause then the large stack becomes a small stack, gotta start with a small stack. See, if you put the small stack on good dirt then the small stack will become the large stack, see very simple,” Kinsley’s breathing became heavier the longer she listened to this disturbed individual’s economic lesson. She considered the possibility of running for the door as he took scattered dollar bills and placed them on the small stack. “Now see, small stack becomes a large stack, it was placed on good dirt. So the small stack became a large stack. So we take a little from the large stack, just a little, remember you can’t take a large stack because it’ll turn into a small stack. So you take a small stack from the large stack and place it on more good dirt. Then the small stack becomes another large stack. You make large stacks again and again and you have a wall out of your large stacks.”

“Um, why would you do all of this?” Kinsley asked.

“Because! This is how you survive! THIS! THIS IS HOW YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO DO IT! They never listened when I tried, see you gotta start with the small stack, but they just took the small stacks and traded them for dirt, they didn’t plant it IN the dirt, so the small stacks could never be the large stacks.” Kinsley got back up and felt a deep sense of pity for this man, unable to understand what he was going on about through the whimpering.

“Dear, it seems as though his mind is… somewhere else.” Edward chimed in, “I don’t think there’s much you can do.”

“Isn’t there something I can do? He’s hurting…” Edward silently shook his head. Kinsley looked down at him with a frown and half shut eyes.

He looked up and acted as if he had just seen her for the first time. “HEY! Get away! This is my wall! Mine! It’ll protect ME! You all had your chance! It’s too late now! They didn’t even try to save me! GET OUT! GET OUT!” He got back up and shoved Kinsley back again. She obliged to his request and went to the other door. Looking back one last time as he laid on the floor behind the wall, mumbling to himself about the one he sold.

Kinsley shut the door behind her and found herself in a tunnel, metal railway tracks lined the floor heading in either direction. She could only take a few seconds before a bright light shined in her face, overloading her optic eyes and causing her to be blinded. A bizarre voice could be heard shouting directions, “FREEZE! DON’T MOVE!” it said. Kinsley thought two people were talking at the same time. “PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!” Kinsley heard the two voices were perfectly in synch, only to realize that it was the same voice. Unlike Kinsley’s voice which had a normal speaker voice with a hard and rough static sound that almost produced a second voice at a different tone. Their voice was a deep and low tone with a second voice that also was at a different tone. But the second voice sounded more ethereal, more breathy than her own, who was speaking?

The light suddenly turned off with a group of people all staring at her, “There’s your problem right there,” one of them said, his voice exactly matching the other speaker. Kinsley could see that the people who ambushed her were of an odd sort. Each one was wearing a pair of old and worn out boots with green paints and matching green rain poncho. Kinsley couldn’t see their faces, they were wearing gas masks with their eye openings covered, the poncho hood pulled over and connecting to it. Their bodies seemed to be sealed in their outfits.

There were four of them, all standing on a vehicle that looked like a cart attached to the rails. One hoped down and walked up to Kinsley, handcuffing her and bring her over to the vehicle. “Don’t mind the cuffs, standard procedure for detainees.” He said, Kinsley noticing his thick gloves.

“Standard? You’re capturing me! Who are you guys! Where are you taking me!” Kinsley felt the tight clasp of the binders as it shut around her wrists. Her hands were pulled behind her giving her little in the way of options.

“We’re Hazard Cops, you break the rules you get in trouble, which you currently are. You thought you could just break into the city like that? Nope. We have procedures for a reason.” He loaded Kinsley onto the cart as she sat between two of the Hazard Cops, the other two sitting on the opposite end. There was an odd looking device in the center of the cart that confused Kinsley, for a city so hateful of machines they sure had a lot of them around. “And trouble for you means talking to the bosses, who aren’t happy with you. But we’re pretty sure they just wanna talk. So don’t do anything stupid please.” He motioned for one of the other Hazard Cops to start running the center device, the cart moving down the tunnel they just came from when they turned it on.

***

The ride was a straight forward affair. Kinsley looking at the creepy people who had just taken her. The tunnel only had the rare twists and turns, Kinsley guess it mapped to a grid system. The walls themselves being made in a box pattern as oppose to the curved ones she was expecting. Compared to the rooms she came from, the tunnels looked relatively new. It was barely lit, only the spotlight on the tram could shine the way forward. None of the Hazard Cops were staring at her, none of the usual shock or intrigue to her robotic nature as oppose to her previous encounters. Kinsley double checked if Edward was still in her hood. She was amazed that a toy made of fake fur and cloth could have gotten through everything she did. Then again, Edward was a tough rabbit, having served in the military as a young boy.

“So, is this King’s Meadow?” Kinsley asked one of the cops, he didn’t respond, but another picked up the question.

“Ha, I wish.” He said. “These are the back tunnels. Let’s us get around quicker to where we need to be, out of sight of people.”

Another chimed in as he put his feet up against the side of the tram. “They wouldn’t be caught dead back here. Well, they wouldn’t be caught alive either.” The two chuckled to themselves.

“This the one that broke two spires topside?” The third asked. Getting closer to Kinsley and staring at her.

“Yup.” One of them answered.

“Heh, bet we get a pay cut next month.” He crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair.

“I’m really sorry about that…” Kinsley said, “I didn’t know what those were. I still don’t actually.”

“You’re not the problem robot.” His annoyance it seemed, was placed onto another.

“Oh!” Kinsley was surprised, “So you all do know what I am. I thought you would have been shocked or interested.” Her statement was only met with shrugs.

“You guys getting those perks next month?” One of the cops asked.

“Don’t have a high enough grade.” Another replied.

“You still got a few weeks if you want ‘em.” The other cop nodded.

The cop next to Kinsley lifted his leg up and started to massage his boot. “Feet burning up again…” His boot looked like it was one size too small and it was wrapped tightly around his foot. “This is everything I expected it to be, definitely the best career choice that I willingly made.” He said to the amusement of those around him.

“You’re boots seem pretty old, why don’t you get new ones?” The cops started laughing at Kinsley for her naivete.

The one on Kinsley’s right replied, “Cause people suck. Especially this guy.” He pointed at the cop across from himself, the latter returning with an unkind gesture of his own.

These people reminded Kinsley of the snow miners above her, only more rude. All the days she spent staring out from her tower and never on a single day could she imagine finding grand spires or dark tunnels. She couldn’t remember what she even expected to find, maybe just more of her home. But nothing was like her home in these strange places. How could one care for so many different types of people? Were their children this different? Where were they? She expected to have found at least one by now. She mulled over the events of the evening so far, wondering where the snow miners were or if Jane had reached the city. Where was she? She processed the situation and felt somewhat overwhelmed, not knowing how to integrate into the city. The process would be difficult, but if someone like Jane helped her, she might be all right.

One of the cops next to Kinsley suddenly broke the silence of the ride, turning his head to the other one next to her and asking, “Your wife has a problem with me, doesn’t she.” Kinsley and everyone else looked at him with confusion before he replied. “Uh, well.”

“Heads up!” A voice erupted from the darkness, Kinsley seeing a figure emerging as it jumped onto the tram. The figure dove straight into Kinsley as the two flew off, landing and rolling on the dirt. The cops tried to stop the tram and pursue them but they could only initiate the brakes and hop off themselves as the tram sped off into the darkness. The two got to their feet with the attacker grabbing Kinsley’s arm and yanking her up, “This way!” She yelled. Kicking open a nearby door and bolting inside as their pursuers gave chase.

“Now whose this!?” Kinsley screamed.

“Friend of Jane! I’ll explain in a bit!” Kinsley was taken aback by another new face, just how many people was she going to meet before the night was over? The two ran through a familiar set of winding hallways, these ones illuminated by the same deep color of red before seeing two pairs of hands pop down from a hole in the ceiling. The attacker grabbed Kinsley and hoisted her up, the hands carrying her the rest of the way. The pursuers got ever close to her and pulled out batons. She tried to jump up with the others, but alas, one of the cops managed to get a direct hit on her leg as she was pulled up with Kinsley. She screamed in pain and tried to get back up, limping as the four ran back down their new hallway. Behind a different door they locked it and stopped to catch their breaths. The attacker checking her injured leg. “Damn Hazer hit my knee, lucky he didn’t break it.”

“I should move back to the tower, this place is too much excitement.” Kinsley joked.

“Wouldn’t mind joinin’ you, you’ve been causing a stir here ever since they spotted you at the spires. I honestly thought they were lying or misinformed.” She tilted Kinsley’s head to get a better look at her, noticing her glowing eyes and tapping her shell. “But it really is true, for the first time in decades, a nandroid’s here. I can’t believe it.” The attacker sat in shock, studying Kinsley's face and feeling her hair. She was young, looking similar in age to the soldier Kinsley encountered. Her brown hair was braided and pulled into a tail. She wore a pair of thin glasses and Kinsley could see a series of dots on her face. She noticed she was wearing an all white uniform with a blue ascot tucked into the neck line and a white towel wrapped around her waist.

“See now, that’s the reaction I expected.” The two laughed as Kinsley offered to shake her hand. The others were caught off guard, not expecting a robot like her to understand a hand shake. She cautiously raised her hand and slowly wrapped it around Kinsley’s. “I’m Kinsley, what’s your name?”

“It’s… Amelia” She said, finishing the hand shake and seeing if she knew what a high five was as well, much to her amusement.

“Hey, we’re gonna head back before they cut off our route, see you later.” Amelia’s friends began to walk away from the two, “Don’t forget you owe us one for this!”

“Yeah of course, a slice on me.” Amelia stood Kinsley back up and turned her around to check on her binds. “Hmm, ok. This shouldn’t be a problem.” She took a key out from her back pocket and unlocked Kinsley’s cuffs, happy to be rid of them as they fell to the floor.

“Thank you so much!” Kinsley hugged the girl as she was taken aback by the gesture, a warm sensation flowed through her, a comfort she long forgotten. “You said you knew Jane right? Where is she? What’s going on and why does the city want to capture me? I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Yeah we’re a bit confused as well, she expected the administrators to meet you personally and to give you the red carpet treatment. Her and the soldiers she met are already here. She heard from them that they were suppose to capture you and not tell her about it. She’s… yeah she’s not happy right now. She sent me to find you, lucky for you I heard where you went from Hat.”

“So what are we gonna do now?” Amelia started walking down the hall as Kinsley followed.

“Simple, we hide you somewhere until she can sort this out. One talk to the administrators should fix everything. Not here though, I know a place down the road that will be perfect for you.” The two arrived at an oddly wooden door, it looked brand new but completely misplaced in the stone tunnel they were currently standing in. “Now then, let me have the honor of introducing you. Kinsley, welcome to King’s Meadow.” She flung the wooden door open and Kinsley peered inside.

Her mouth was opened in shock, her processes froze as she analyzed and took in everything she saw inside. The city was positively massive. She saw beautiful buildings as far as the eye could see. Massive structures with complicated designs lined up in a grid. Squares of grass were placed in front of each one with trees and lights adoring it all. The entire area was bathed in an orange glow all being emitted from light posts strewn about the streets which were paved with cobblestone. Kinsley could see many different looking humans, some large, some small, some wearing hats, others wearing dresses, one was even similar to her own. They were walking back and forth, some slow, some fast. They were talking, singing, she could hear sweet laughter from just beyond the corner. Some were riding in wooden boxes being driven by creatures Kinsley never saw before. This place was so alive, so full of activity. She was immediately drawn like a moth to the glowing flame of life, full of intrigue and wonder. All her worries burned away for the briefest of moments and she nearly felt at peace.

“It’s not much, but people like it I guess.” Kinsley was speechless. “Just make sure to put your hood up and keep it subtle. Don’t want people to see your face yet.” She was knocked out of her awe by remembering the people couldn’t see her. She took Edward out of her hood and raised it over her head to help hide. “So, that the toy Jane talked about?”

“What? Oh! Yes of course! I made him myself. What do you think? He’s a scientist and explorer, veteran of the British Army.” 

She held Edward up for Amelia to see. She was amused to see something so simple, “It’s cute I guess, gotta fix that broken eye-glass though.”

“Oh… right,” she replied, looking through it to see if it was further damaged, “I hope I can here.”

“Well, it ain’t a painting. You can step on through and we’ll be on our way.” Kinsley took a deep breath and crossed her arms to hold Edward. She slowly took a step through the doorway and into the city proper. Seeing it was one thing but being **within** the city was another. Kinsley was surrounded by the warmth of it all, looking around and seeing even more buildings down the road she was currently standing on. All she could do was smile.

“We made it Edward, we’re really here. We finally made it to the city.”

***

The speed of the city was no slouch, Kinsley could hardly take account of everything as people walked past her, around her, and every which way. Lights, music, talking, eating, celebrations, brick buildings, wood cracking, doors shutting, bells ringing. She could look any which way and be amazed, practically stopping by every building they passed and looking inside. Patron’s at a bar, people shopping for clothes, a young man getting his first tool, a young man getting his first scientific instrument, a young girl getting the freshest pair of slippers while an old man had his finest pair fixed at a cobbler. Amelia had to keep bringing her back as her unfathomable curiosity kept leading her away. “Oh Amelia this place is wonderful! It’s so much more than what I thought it would be!” Kinsley twirled in joy, throwing her arms into the air and looking up.

“You really think so?” Kinsley was about to respond before stopping. She saw what appeared to be a ‘celing’ above her head. It was white in color and highly reflective, Kinsley could see the city and many lights glowing as orange spheres in it. Amelia noticed her as she attempted to get her moving again. “Finally noticed it huh? You wanna know what that is?” Kinsley nodded. “It’s glass. Totally see through.”

“Glass? That’s see through? So… is that snow on top of it?” Kinsley thought back to the forest of spires, how they too were incased in glass. But the spires went into the ground and formed a base, the realization hit Kinsley like a brick. “The city… The city’s at ground level! It’s buried in the snow!” Amelia had to hush her to stop Kinsley from making a scene. “Oh I cannot believe all this time I was right above such a majestic place. But then, what are the spire’s purpose then? Where are they? They are so easily breakable yet the glass sphere we occupy has not collapsed?”

“It’s a bit odd, lot of technical stuff, but Jane sorta explained it like… Hm. Well she explained it as… It’s not a flat surface right? This entire city is encased in a giant curved brick of reinforced glass. It all curves downwards. The spires were a later addition and are made of way, way, WAY, weaker materials. You know those metal rods they were encasing?” Kinsley nodded and Amelia leaned in closer to her and started whispering. “No don’t tell anyone, but those are powered machines. They get real hot and melt the snow when it builds up. The water then trickles down into a filter system and we burn it for steam. We can’t power all of them at once though, or keep them powered all the time. So we let one side build up for a bit and melt the other side during the day. They can’t build any here without the public getting suspicious so they had to build them out in the fields where everyone is too busy working to notice or care.”

“What a fascinating piece of engineering!” Kinsley erupted from the conversation, looking around with glee and admiring the faint reflections of the city she was now a part of. It was no longer an image, a view from a tower. She was in the world she spent so long looking out to.

“Not bad for a city nearly a century old eh?” Amelia had a playful smug as the two crossed a road, Kinsley looking at each of the four-legged creatures walk on by. She noticed the humans were oblivious to her, to her hands, no one had so much as even looked at her yet.

“No one’s noticed me yet, I thought someone might’ve by now.” Kinsley was worried that such a packed city would have had someone see her face in her hood. Or they should have seen a least a bit of her hands, despite her attempts to hide them in her sleeve. She even came up with a great excuse for when she was caught.

“Something you’ll learn about this city is that people are still as wrapped up as they ever were. Still as oblivious.” Amelia had an annoyed tone, the comment striking a personal chord with her. “See that big red square building over there? That’s the building my family owns.” She was pointing at a shop on a street corner, it was about as tall as any other square building on the street. Kinsley could make out a sign on the front of it, Simple Seed Produce.

“Your family owns produce? Do you grow vegetables!?”

“Yes I would figure that’s what produce is dork.” She was oblivious to Amelia’s attempt to verbally jab her. She was too excited to get there and go inside. From too slow to too fast, Amelia couldn’t keep her where she wanted, much to her chagrin.

“Wo~~~w, look at these!” Kinsley admired the food as soon as she saw them in the window. Freshly plucked vegetables, from potatoes to tomatoes, were seen within. “They look so cool, look at all the green! Well, those bits there are green right? I’m pretty sure that’s green, that red is so bright!”

“Hey Kinsley.” She turned her head to see Amelia opening the front door. “You can come inside you know.”

“Oh right! Thanks!” Kinsley hopped on inside with Amelia and started touching everything in the store. She picked up each vegetable and felt new sensations at her fingertips. Some of them were smooth, some were rough, she flipped the leaves of a carrot and listened to the wrinkling sound they made. Amelia looked out the front windows, not seeing anything worth worrying about. She closed the blinds as a precautionary measure anyway and jumped up to grab a key hidden on the door frame.

“My father has one of the garden patches in the park south of here. They grow plants with these weird looking lights and I help sell them. My mother keeps track of the store but she mostly sits in her office and does paperwork all the time.” She approached the stairs towards the back of the store, going behind the front desk and checking a tray of wooden plates. She counted them off and was relieved to see none were taken while she was out. She took two and tossed them into the furnace behind her. “Technically I left the store wide open to come get you, left in a panic after all. Our home is upstairs, you can hide there until the Hazers get tired of looking for you. Jane’ll meet us here as well.”

Kinsley followed her up the stairs. Amelia took the key and unlocked the door that awaited them. “She said you’d love to meet someone so let me introduce you two.” They entered a rather comfy looking loft, if a little on the small size. Kinsley could see a short table for family members to sit around as more orange glowing lights surrounded them, lighting a series of doors and a desk. “Feel free to pull your hood down, they won’t see you here so long as you stay away from the windows.” Amelia knocked on one of the doors as Kinsley stood on the carpet by the table. Lowering her hood and placing Edward on the floor next to her. She could vaguely hear Amelia talking to another person, asking if they were okay and if anyone stopped by the store. The voice sounded tired, meek even. Kinsley never heard a human speak in a high tone. She was interested in what new human she would get to meet as she looked around the room. She could see dried and yellow pieces of paper, black ink illustrations adoring them with simplistic lines for people and circles for heads. The pictures seemed quaint to her, recognizing these were probably someone’s attempt at drawing humans. She wondered how well she could do if she attempted it.

Many of the pictures depicted someone in what seemed to be a bed, who was this person to lay in a bed so much? Another one had the same image repeated, someone sitting in a chair with their back turned towards the viewer. They were framed as though it was a doorway, in different positions or wearing different clothes, Kinsley suspected it was the same person. Amelia came out of the room as Kinsley heard her feet on the carpet. “Did you draw these Amelia?” She asked.

“No I didn’t, he did.” Kinsley felt her metallic core short circuit as her eyes flickered. Amelia looked down at her legs and Kinsley could see him, covering her mouth in shock. Scruffy short hair, wearing pajama onesies and staring at her nervously from behind Amelia. There was only one description for this human that Kinsley had just seen. She felt processes long since dead and abandoned suddenly snap back to life. The clouds in her mind finally felt like they vanished and everything made sense. She felt parts of herself, processes and subroutines, being accessed for the first time. This sickening sense of half-death left her and she felt as though she had awaken to the real world. The missing piece completing the stage and shined more brightly than ever. Kinsley was a nandroid, a term she barely knew. Existing in a world she knew nothing about. It was only now she could see, only now she felt like one of her fellow nandroids, feeling a little closer to them as the true purpose of her creation made utter sense. Her processes recognizing everything.

“A… A little human.” She said as her voice trembled in joy, she had met a child, and now, everything made sense. This was her purpose, the reason why she was made. She kneeled down as the boy hid more behind his sister, looking at her arms and feeling scared.

He looked up to Amelia who nodded and reassured him. “It’s okay Lucien, she won’t hurt. Kinsley this is Lucien my younger brother.”

The boy cautiously moved up to Kinsley as she could barely talk, “You’re the-the roahbots that Auntie Jane keeps talking about?”

Kinsley could barely force the words out, not knowing how to speak or what tone to take. “Y-Yes, I am…”

“Auntie Jane said you came from far away.”

“Yes, I journeyed far to make it here. It’s… amazing to meet you Lucien. I was hoping to live here, in the city.” The boy moved closer to her, the nervousness falling to the wayside. He moved her sleeves out of the way and saw her malformed hands.

“Woah… cool! Would you like to-to see m-my drawings? Can I draw one of-one of you?” Kinsley felt like she could shut down, overwhelmed by her emotions. The little human liked her arms, thinking they were cool even. The worst part of her was something he adored and liked about her, what could one such as her say to that? For the first time she felt positive things about her horrible arms, a light appeared somewhere she never thought it would. He admired a piece of her that even she couldn’t stomach on the best of days.

“I… would love that little one.” Joy. Pure joy was all there was and for thirty minutes more, that’s all there would be. Thirty minutes of peace, for everyone. Everywhere.

***

Kinsley was blissfully content as Lucien showed his drawings, explaining what each one was. The two were sitting down by the table in the loft. Amelia was downstairs attending to some customers and getting their vegetables for tonight, having dealt with a catered order a few hours ago before getting Kinsley out of the tunnels. “This is one I did of the spires, I saw them once when mom took us there.” Kinsley saw the interpretation and compared it to her own memories. The spires were more curved and taller than they actually were. The black shaded lines contrasting against the paper made it slightly creepier than Kinsley remembered.

“This looks great, I was recently there.” Lucien showed her pictures of places she hadn’t been too, one in particular caught her attention, a series of large square lights with simplistic fruits underneath them. “Oh, is this a picture of the gardens?” Lucien nodded, “I wouldn’t mind visiting them.”

"Daddy says I can't work there yet. Doesn't wanna me become a Ha-Ha-Haser." He was doodling a picture of Kinsley as he showed his drawings to her. "Me and the other kids... ge-ge-get bored a-a lot here. I rest in m-my bed."

He handed her a picture of herself. Her hair was the wrong length and wrong style, her eyes and nose were wobbly and the wrong size. Her hands were large and more akin to giant rods than what they actually were. “Lucien, this is great! Thank you so much!” Kinsley admired it, loving every line that comprised it.

Lucien walked around the table to put his pencils and paper away, the sight of the brown rabbit caught his eye. “W-What’s that?” He asked, pointing at the toy.

Kinsley nearly forgot Edward was there next to meeting her first child. She picked him up and stood tall, presenting him like a proud trophy. Out of everyone, she was the most energetic to show him off to Lucien. “This is Edward the Journeyman Rabbit. He grew up as a veteran in the British Military serving in the 3rd Parachute Battalion. Upon returning home, he dedicated his life to understanding the science of electricity after a lightning strike saved him from an approaching bomber during the war. He and several of his fellow military pals deal with all sorts of looming threats around the world in a gentlemanly fashion. Not wanting to repeat the past tragedies of the war and hoping to teach the new generation how to appreciate the life around them. He has eyes for a lovely lady that is the heir to a great trading empire whose father doesn’t want her to hang around with, but he saves her in dashing adventures and unbelievable tales! He was also a great boxer.”

Lucien was rather confused at the diatribe Kinsley just gave him. Her cheeks grew a bit red at seeing his lack of response. “Oh… heh, guess I got just a~~ bit carried away there… Um, he’s a cute brown rabbit in a suit. A doll really, Want to see it?” Lucien nodded, Kinsley relinquishing Edward to him as he stood and looked at him. “His monocle is broken but, I hope to fix that soon.” He tried to squeeze his hand and noticed how soft and warm the object was. 

Kinsley crouched down next to Lucien, “Edward, allowed me to introduce you to Lucien.” She took his arm and offered to shake the young boys hand. “Oh? Greetings young lad! Are you friends with Kinsley? You look like a fine fellow in this city!” The boy started to giggle and raise his hands to his face. “A laugher are you?” The doll said. “I don’t know Edward, do you think he could join us for a spot of tea?” Kinsley asked, smiling and giggling along with Lucien. “I don’t see why not,” Edward began, “Tea is better with company, and there’s no such thing as a crowd with friends.”

“Y-Yeah! I’d like some-some tea please!” Lucien yelled, getting more rambunctious and started jumping around. Kinsley took Edward and started to prepare a mock tea party for the trio.

The aura suddenly grew dark and cold, Lucien’ movement slowing down to a crawl in fear and all suddenly went silent, neither moving. They had heard a loud bang downstairs, the voice of a woman suddenly screaming for Amelia in anger. They could hear another door opening and the faint voice of Amelia talking to the other. Upon hearing Amelia, Lucien crawled under the table and hid. Amelia’s voice was cutoff by the other, her overpowering voice silencing her. Kinsley could hear every word. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU AMELIA! YOU LIED TO ME! WHERE IS IT!? WHERE’S THE ROBOT!?” Amelia tried to talk, Kinsley not understanding a word. Lucien started to shiver and whimper under the table. “DON’T GIVE ME EXCUSES! WHERE! IS! IT!” It clicked with Kinsley that she was in danger of being found out, by someone who sounded like she was a threat.

“Lucien, go to your room, I’ll handle this. It’s me she wants.” Lucien was hesitant to leave the table, Kinsley’s kind words and guiding hands being the only thing that gave him the courage to do so. Before he could run however Kinsley stopped him. She looked at the doll in her hands and remembered faint words, a final missive that started her journey. This child was the first of potentially many, and potentially the only one she would meet. The danger’s of what could happen now being what they were. She realized what she had to do, feeling a bitter chill of sadness. She placed the doll onto her chest and slowly gave his ears a pet. “Everything will be okay, right Edward?” She took Lucien’s hand and placed the doll onto it. “I made this doll for children like you Lucien, I’m here because I want to help you all. But… some people seem to not like me here. They don’t like what I am. I’m sure you’ve seen this?” Lucien could only nod, tears welding in his eyes.

“I want you to have this, something you can hold onto in moments, both happy and sad, until you grow up. Okay? If… if I can, I’ll fix his monocle but… he’s fine either way, right?” The tears started to flow down his cheeks as he hugged Kinsley.

“I don’t want them to hurt you, I like you K-Kinsley.”

“Everything will be fine, hang onto Edward for me, okay?” Kinsley never thought she would tell a white lie to a child, but she had to reassure him somehow against a situation he could never understand. He ran to the door and looked behind him one last time, Kinsley waving goodbye with a comforting smile. “Goodbye Edward.” she whispered

“Goodbye Kinsley, and good luck my dear friend.” He said, Lucien walking into his room and shutting the door. Leaving Kinsley standing, alone.

***

“Mom you just don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amelia stood in front of the staircase as her mother stared her down from the entrance, looking like she had just arrived from an office.

“ME!? Amelia you’re messing with something that’s DANGEROUS! IT, is dangerous!” Her mother turned the open sign to closed and stared outside the window.

“You don’t know anything about her! She’s meant to help people! Jane said-” Her mother turned around and shot the angriest stare she could. No matter how old she got or how many times she saw it, it always left a chill in Amelia’s heart.

“I don’t care what she said!” Amelia’s mother was furious, this argument was a common one and the ‘maybes’ were rapidly reaching reality. “It is a machine, alright? A MACHINE. Worse! It’s a ROBOT! A robot Amelia! We’re STUCK in this place because of them! They ruined the world!”

“They didn’t! They didn’t cause all this snow to be here okay!? Stop blaming them!” Amelia got closer to her, not backing down, becoming an unstoppable force. She was not going to let anything ruin this final opportunity.

Her mother, likewise, was an immovable object and had been for her entire life. “They DID. Jane is an old woman and out of her mind. SENILE is what she is.”

“Don’t talk about her like that! She was there from the start! She knows more about them than you do!” Amelia was trusting in Jane’s mission to recover a robot of her own in the freezing tundra above them.

“So do the administrators! Them and the chief medical officer AND the head engineer say they need to be taken! Now tell me where she is! I know she’s in this house and you will NOT hide one of those things in MY HOME!” Amelia’s mother had been questioned by the Hazers after they recognized Amelia in the tunnels. Her mother dictating that she would handle it.

“S-She’s not here! She ran off into the-”

“DO NOT LIE TO ME!”

“I’m NOT!”

“AMELIA!”

“ENOUGH!” The two’s eyes shot back towards the staircase. The two were horrified, for vastly different reasons. Kinsley could be seen giving the two a hardened stare, backed by frustration. “Please… stop yelling, you’re scaring Lucien.”

“YOU.” Amelia’s mother seemed downright wrathful at the mention of her child’s name by the robot in front of her. “How DARE you utter my child’s name. Amelia, you let that thing get close to my son? How could you!”

“Your son? Coulda fooled me.” Amelia had her arms crossed and looking away from her mother, dejected.

“Yes, MY SON. Furthermore!” Kinsley walked up to the two and stood between them.

“I’m the one you want, please don’t take it out on your children.” Kinsley moved Amelia behind her, protecting her.

“Do not ORDER me around you filthy damnable THING. I’ll talk to my children how I want to and you have no business telling me otherwise.” Tears were beginning to welled in Amelia’s eyes. “I want you to leave my house and NEVER come back, NEVER speak to my children again, I don’t care where you go, just do not come here.”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll leave.” Amelia grabbed Kinsley’s arm and held her back.

“NO Kinsley! They’ll find you out there and then they’ll capture you! Please don’t go! Just stay a little while, I’m sure Jane is clearing everything up right now!” Amelia was terrified of Jane’s reaction should she discover that Kinsley was caught before she could help, far more so than whatever wrath her mother could conjure.

“SHE IS NOT STAYING IN THIS HOUSE! GET. OUT. NOW!” Amelia’s mother flung the door open in a fit of rage, the group gasping when a Hazer was on the other side of it looking straight at Kinsley.

He motioned to his fellow officers down the road as he began to walk inside the store. He was suddenly taken off of his feet and shoved out by Kinsley pushing Amelia’s mother into him, the two falling over onto the sidewalk. She jumped over the two and bolted across the road as the other officers spotted her and gave chase. Amelia Tried to follow Kinlsey but the officer on the ground managed to snag her foot and trip her, falling to the ground and dropping her glasses as the officer tried to keep her from helping. “Run Kinsley! Don’t stop! We’ll find you!” Amelia yelled, thinking as to how the heck she was going to manage that while being detained and with no sign of Jane anywhere.

***

The chase was fierce and arduous, Kinsley could barely keep her hood on, not wanting to complicate matters further and possibly starting a panic if others saw her true nature. Five officers were on her tail, most people not able to catch a glimpse of her face as she ran past everyone. She was randomly taking turns at corners, trying anything to shake them off of her tail. She made a sharp turn into an alleyway hoping to get some distance from them. Planks of wood and shelves with tools on them were knocked over in a vain attempt to stall for time. Ahead she could see someone opened a door and began walking out of a building. Kinsley jumped the stairs and zipped past the stranger, apologizing for nearly knocking them over. The cops had less sympathy as they shoved him aside to enter the dwelling.

The family inside took notice of the stranger running through their kitchen. “Did someone just break in?” asked the eldest daughter. They screamed when the whole squad came bursting through as well, the bounty they sought unbeknownst to them. One of the officers nearly managed to grab Kinsley’s hood as they entered the living room, missing it when she jumped over the family’s couch and approached the front door. Her escape was cut off when another officer kicked it in, diving for her as she slid on the rug to stop. Kinsley dodged him and hopped onto a nearby chair, taking her other leg and prancing up to the top of it and leaping off of it to catch the railing to the second floor. The officers stumbled climbing up the narrow staircase with their large boots. This gave Kinsley enough time to climb over the railing and run through the room nearby. She thanked the maker when the door had a lock on it, turning it and looking for any windows.

She could only see two young children reading education books with small plates of food on the floor. The room was featureless save for a couple beds. They were surprised when they saw Kinsley’s face, herself growing nervous realizing she had been found out again. They became scared when the officers behind her started to kick the door down. “No no! Don’t get scared! They just want me you see!” She explained, it doing little to ease their fear. She noticed a window nearby and opened it, the door starting to crack from the force. “It’s no problem, see? I’ll make the scary men leave you alone.” Kinsley hung from the windowsill and leaned over to the window in the hallway. Giving it a tap and showing the officers a cocky two finger salute. They failed to open the locked window and immediately started making their way back downstairs and out the front door. She leaned back and waved at the two children before her wretched hands couldn't hold her up anymore. She fell and landed on the ground. Barely able to get up before the Hazers were on her tail again. She took off, running in the opposite direction down a third alleyway path. 

People from the roads were looking in to see what the commotion was about, only seeing a hooded figure followed by many masked chasers a few seconds after. Kinsley was causing a scene, she could only guess how long she had left before she would be surrounded and caught. She desperately needed to get away from everyone. Ahead was another of the carriages she had seen from earlier, more people running after her from the sides as she emerged out onto the sidewalk. She ran out into the streets, pushing people aside and hitting the creature on the rear, spooking it and causing it start running. The previous owner was startled and fell out when the animal pulling it started to run away, yanking his lead rope and hauling him onto the ground. Kinsley was able to catch the carriage as it sped off, “Sorry mister!” She yelled as she essentially stole his ride, his only gesture being to scream vague curses at her.

The animal began to run wildly, twisting and turning in the streets of King’s Meadow. People began to run and panic. Kinsley failed to grab the lead as it flopped around. An officer managed to jump onto the carriage, more emerging from nearby roads to pursue her. The officer struggled to lift himself, getting dragged across the road. Kinsley grabbed the roof of the carriage and climbed out to get away from him. The animal only got more spooked as the officers all ran towards it. Trying to stop it from running and screaming at each other. The officer decided to pursue Kinsley, leaving the lead rope behind and also climbing up to the roof. She honestly considered jumping from her ride, but she considered it for one second too long. The officer went to snatch her, Kinsley avoiding his large reach for her as the animal hit a jump, shaking both of them off balance. The heavy uniform of the officer caused him to stumble longer. Kinsley caught her footing and shoved the officer off of the carriage, falling onto the road and getting knocked out. She felt a great sense of triumph in her victory. Making a familiar unkind gesture at the officer and howling with laughter as she mocked him. She was completely oblivious as the creature driving her nearly ran into the gate in front of it. The sudden stop it made as it tried to turn was enough to send the carriage crashing. The impact sent Kinsley flying through the air. The gate was enclosed around a ginormous building with large windows. She couldn’t do anything and crashed through the window at full force, damaging her hands and dress.

She found herself landing on top of a table, feeling different sensations of warmth, coldness, hard and soft. It was only when she could get her eyes back on that she saw she landed in food, her dress was stained with mash potatoes as she got beef stuck in her hair. “EUGH! Gross!” She yelled, wiping the food off and looking up to see a large familiar looking hunchbacked man in front of her. She gasped and smiled at finding another friendly face during this dangerous chase. “Half! Oh thank god I found you!”

“You’re in my dinner.” He said, clearly finding her presence annoying during his favorite time of day.

“Oh! Sorry! Sorry!” She got up from the table and placed the beef back onto his plate. Half resumed eating like nothing happened. It was only then she realized her hood was down, she had a real moment of shock when she realized the two were not alone. The table Kinsley fell onto had more than one patron eating supper at it. In fact the building was housing an entire room full of guests eating dinner they had paid for. Everyone had eyes on the girl who had just crashed through a window. Kinsley’s robotic face was on full display to everyone. Some were horrified, some were confused. Children and adults alike were shaken from their respective realities into a singular collective observation that no one believed could exist.

“IT’S A ROBOT!” Someone yelled, a long pause following. Kinsley tried to wave her hand and offer a greeting, but when everyone saw the long spikes for fingers and horrid design of her hands, several people screamed. Everyone, save of Half who continued eating, started to yell and grab their children. They all hurried to the nearest exit, Kinsley trying to calm everyone down.

“I’d run if I were you kid,” Half started, “Ain’t nobody gonna listen to you.”

“Half, the Hazard cops are chasing me! I can’t find Amelia, and I don’t know where to go! You have to help me!” Half just sat in his chair and continued eating.

“I’d run if I were you kid,” he repeated, seemingly not interested in whatever she had to say. She heard the familiar voices of the Hazers forcing their way through the crowds to get inside. Kinsley backed away from Half and tried to climb back out the window she smashed. The moment she jumped through and landed, she felt a swift baton hit her in the shins. She was knocked to the ground as a dozen people descended on to her, pulling her in every direction and stopping her from moving. Despite Amelia’s help, despite her attempts to flee, despite everything. None of it mattered now, all of it dissolved into vapor. Kinsley had been caught, and she wasn’t getting away this time.

***

Kinsley was wearing a singular device to hold her hands together in front of her. It clamped around her wrists and she could barely even bend her arms. She doubted that Amelia could unlock these and free her this time. The officers quickly pulled her hood over her face, rushing her to the massive building she was now walking through. It appeared as through this building was an original, it’s interior showing age and faded colors. How it wasn’t destroyed was a story that eluded her. It was darker than the rest, not nearly as many lights here as compared to other more lively homes. What was the purpose of such a drab place? “Where are you taking me?” Kinsley asked, no response was received. They walked up a set of stairs, a set of stairs, and another set of more stairs. She could hear the creaking wood with each step, feeling anxious that it could break at any point. Cracked photo frames with barely visible photos hung on the walls of each floor they walked across. The carpet on the floor was ripped, it was dirty. Were there people living here? Kinsley could barely imagine who, seeing fresh cobwebs in every corner of the place. She could see inside some of the rooms they passed by, each one was cramped, dirty and in shambles.

The two officers gripping her arms and forcing her along barely let up the pace, they wanted to be done with her. “They called me out on my day off for this thing? What a waste of time.” One of them said. “We’re gonna have to write a report about the damage she did in town.” The other shook his head, “Pft, figures,” said one in the back of the group. They led Kinsley to a set of double doors, opening them up and shoving Kinsley inside. The room was bigger than the previous spaces, a singular circular table lying in the center of it. This room was as dimly lit as the rest of the building and just as dilapidated. Her eyes immediately studied the individuals who all turned their attention towards her as she entered the room. There were four people, three men and one woman. All four were wearing standard uniforms befitting army officers. The woman had her hair in a singular bun on the top of the her head while the three men had short hair, two of them rather messy in style. While the woman and one of the men were sitting at the table, Kinsley was especially interested in the two men looking out of the window to the people in the streets below. When they turned to face her, she noticed they looked exactly alike. Their facial structures were so similar.

“So,” the woman began, reorganizing the papers in front of her, “This is the nandroid that’s been causing so much trouble here.”

“Finally!” The other gentlemen at the table exclaimed, “We’ve been waiting for it to get here all night. Bring it over here.” The officers did as ordered, he wasted no time in getting up and studying Kinsley’s outer shell. He forcibly grabbed her head and moved it around, checking for any signs of damage. 

Kinsley felt unease at being forcibly examined, “What are you doing? That hurts you jerk!” She yelled, yanking her head away from him. The action didn’t phase him, not at all. He didn’t respond and grabbed her hands, noticing their decrepit appearance.

“Well now these are new, who fixed you up nandroid?” Kinsley looked away from him and her arms, never wishing to remember. “Hmm, nandroid is an outmode it seems. It’s refusing my orders. That is also new. Well… I suppose none of it matters. She’s in suburb condition, extraction will be an easy process.”

“E-Extraction!? What are you talking about!?” Kinsley’s eyes were horrified at the implications. She started fidgeting more as the officer held her in place. No one answered her question, “Are you listening to me!? What are you going to do with me!?” It seemed as though they were deliberately ignoring her words, merely focusing on her condition.

“What’s the timeline for the previous core.” The man asked of the woman.

“A few weeks at best,” She replied, “This needs to be done as soon as possible if we do not want a disruption to the city. The spires are already struggling. Preferably? I would rather do this before-” a sudden noise came crashing into the room as the doors opened again. 

Kinsley could see a familiar face enter the room, “Jane!” She called out, taking a few steps towards them before getting yanked back by one of the officers.

“I’ve been in Hawthorn for all my life, and I’ve met the most ridiculous people. Little did I know they would be outdone by the four losers I’m looking at right now. Would any of you mind telling me why Kinsley is in binds and why you sent officers after her? Why the carriage driving me to this place thought it amusing to circle around the same block for over half an HOUR!? I thought we agreed-” The other woman slammed her hand into the table, silencing Jane.

“We agreed to bring any working robots to us, which is what we have done.”

“US. Yet here she is, without a single word meant to reach me. Now why is that?” The two stood in silence, their eyes cutting into one another in a non-verbal duel. The two could see the hand of the other with their intentions laid bare. She couldn’t believe it, the mountainous height of their lies. To think, they use to ride the trolley to school everyday, they use to be what she would call dear friends. It made sense, from a logistical standpoint, but so did the actions that led the world to it’s current state. She watched as thousands of hours of talking and promises and smiles were obliterated when put to the test. She could only shake her head in disappointment. “So that’s it then huh? You’re just gonna take the only nandroid we’ve found in decades and rip it out. Without a care in the world.”

“With our current expertise and skills, this can help us for a few decades more, certainly beyond our lifetimes.” The woman said, rationalizing the act she’s committed so many times to save their skins.

“Ah, I see, and what of the people? Are you going to tell them what we’ve been doing? What we’ve been neglecting to tell them? Or are you saving that for your deathbed.” Jane sat at the table in the center. She also pointed at the officers. “Let her sit, right in this chair, she deserves to hear this, despite how badly it will break her heart so. You all may leave us. Remove her binds as well please.” The officers looked at Jennifer who agreed to the request, letting Kinsley sit and leaving the group to their discussions.

“Jane? W-What’s going on? What are you all talking about?” Jane placed her hands onto hers and held them in her lap. 

“Kinsley, back when all this happened, the people did not hate robots as they do now. We actually depended on them for survival, they helped us a great deal, going to places we could not, working for longer than we could. They cared for the children, and soon enough, their children’s children. Back when this place was Hawthorn Grove, our home. But people began to feel crossed about their hand in life. People got the funny idea that our rapid advancement with technology was to blame for our lot. I recall them, even now, saying it was too much too quickly, we weren’t ready. As if we could judge or calculate such things, when is too fast? When is too much? Alas, soon our many caretakers became fewer, the children becoming lonelier, the parents becoming busier. Suddenly, cries, cries rang out in the streets. They wanted it all to be removed, for those who supported it to pay for what they did. We four are all that are left, because we tossed aside our old identities to survive long before this all started.”

“What happened to the nandroids that use to be here then? Why are they all gone? Why am I the only one left?” Kinsley was despondent, but a deep rooted desire to learn gnawed at her mind that caused her to brace all the thorns to achieve it.

“Humanity depends on technology, whether we like to admit it or not. Do you really think a handful of barely working steam engines could power this city at all hours of the day back then? No. It could not. But it didn’t matter. With a few modifications and dangerous chemical reactions, we turned another resource into something that could power our cities instead.” It didn’t take long for the implications to rip through Kinsley like a bullet. The sickening knowledge dropping into her stomach where one of her most precious parts were stored. The yellow cube inside of her functioned as the power source to her robotic existence. It was state of the art back when it was first invented, it was the most valuable thing on the planet now. “Yes, many robots were destroyed initially. The rest? Came afterwards, during our desperate struggle for survival. Some were harvested, some broke, and others just mysteriously shut down as their bodies fell apart. But eventually, they all were destroyed for our continued existence. They may be the only reason we’re still here. Truthfully? You are not the last because we assume so, because we think so. You are the last because we know so, because we destroyed everything else. I fully admit, my search is most likely in vain.”

Kinsley clawed her hands away from Jane, disgusted and confused. She could only look at her with a horrified stare, terrified and alone as everyone seemed to want her dead or worse. “What… what is **WRONG** WITH ALL OF YOU!” She yelled, her voice echoing throughout the building as she slammed her hands onto the table. “They… They cared for you! They helped raise you and all you did was use them!”

The man suddenly got up and stared Kinsley down. “I will not be lectured to by a machine! That is the POINT! You are meant to serve and that is what they did!”

“So the look of horror and confusion on her face was her understanding that then yes? Or was that another of her ‘blonde moments’ perhaps?” Jane retorted, trying to convince them what they did may have been wrong.

It was the woman’s turn to get up from her seat in fury “Stop with your pathetic indignation, you tossed yours aside before anything ever happened, because of one little incident. We will not allow your idiotic senile guilt trips stop us from doing what is best for this city!”

As Jane got up from her chair, it was a slow and methodical movement. “No Ma’am, the only senile people is you four. Tell me, what happens if we do take her core. What will we do when this final core burns away in a tank of irradiated liquid? Her brain tossed aside despite all the precious information potentially stored within? Unless…” A wicked grin etched itself across her face. “You don’t care? Because by the time this is a problem, we’ll all be gone.”

“Exactly, this can solve our problem now and we’ll never have to worry about it ever again.” Jane walked to her friend and tried to place a hand on her shoulder. She brushed it aside. “Don’t. I’m a tired old woman, at the mercy of any citizen who always get their way. We were smart with just going with the flow, you cannot blame me without first blaming them. How many people like us fell to their incessant demands?”

“We never tried, we hid the truth that the city is still being powered by cutting edge steam machines made by you, housed in buildings designed by you. Your fathers would be so proud. But now, this is the time. The parents are worried for their children’s future, they can’t care for them in their busy lives tilling the fields and manually keeping track of everything that happens in the day. Sound familiar?” She motioned over to Kinsley as if introducing her to the world in a prime time commercial. “She can help people, she WANTS to help them, she can make beautiful things. We just have to give her a chance to live among us. The people can’t live in the dark anymore.”

“What good can she do now?” The man barked, clearly distraught with where the conversation was going. “You talk as if we have a choice here. It’s not like they’d ever listen to her. They will either fear or hate, they won’t accept. Her destruction is practically ordained.”

Jane took a seat next to Kinsley, resting her hand onto her shoulder. “They fear, and hate. I can’t blame them, I can’t fully blame all of you either. I get it. The ruthless destruction we all had to witness during our formative years hardened our hearts. But what good is a fire if the soul can never feel it? We are here, we are alive. Our lives can go on despite all that has happened. But if we are to allow this state of fear to fester, we’ll cripple those who will take on our problems after we pass from this world. This nandroid can reintroduce all of these things. Helping children and adults alike.” She looked right at Kinsley and smiled, nodding her head to affirm her statements. She knew more so than anything, Kinsley could do it. She could only faintly smile back, trusting in Jane, but not knowing what she could do.

“How?” the man asked.

“Simple,” Jane responded, “The answer is toys.”

The two stood dumbstruck as her final conclusive answer. “Toys…” the man said. “You really have lost your mind.”

The two twins turned away from the windows and moved closer to the table. Kinsley could see their thick bearded faces, the forces of time harshly engraved in every wrinkle. “We have heard enough.” One of them said. His voice was heavy, and he spoke with a sense of command. “The robot must be harvested, the fire must continue to burn if we are to avoid freezing. That is it.” The twins called for the guards to return.

Kinsley was distraught as they spoke. “No please don’t do this!”

Jane slammed her hands against the table in frustration. “No that isn’t it dammit! We have the engines to power the city! We just have to make them better! We can do it!”

“The engines are already the best they can be.” The woman said, taking her folders and turning to leave.

Jane grabbed the folders out of her hands and threw them into the air with a violent swing. Papers scattered throughout the air and drifted down. Kinsley saw some of the diagrams and recognized the drawings as the machines from when she entered the city. Jane screamed, “THEN YOU'RE A LIAR!” in the woman’s face.

“Can’t I be given a chance? That’s all I want. I want to make toys, I want to run that toy shop in the middle of town.” Kinsley put her hands together, begging them to leave her alone. The twins came over to the table, each step carrying authority and poise.

“You don’t understand, in the end it is not our choice. The people will destroy you, at least this way you can do some good for them. You won’t be torn to pieces, or left in the snow to wither and freeze.” Said one of them, the other put his hands over Kinsley’s and spoke with the tone of a saddened grandfather seeing their grandchildren leave them. “If you want to truly help humans, this is the way to do it. You can envelope them with the warmth of your power core, the core of your being. You can help them survive for decades to come, maybe then the next generation can lead themselves to brighter days. Wouldn’t you want that for them? You can give them the greatest gift, you can become King’s Meadow and watch over them with the brightest lights in the world.”

Kinsley considered the offer, Jane ripping her hands away from the twins. “Don’t listen to them Kinsley, all you’ll do is keep them alive for a few decades then they’ll freeze to death. They need to accept machines and technology, we can rebuild and learn from the mistakes of the past, our history. You are the first step in doing that.”

Kinsley seemed the most disheartened she had ever been. King’s Meadow wasn’t what she thought it was. It was a painful place, caught in a horrible paradox of Beauty, joy, lies, and deceit. She didn’t know who was right, didn’t know what the correct plan was. All she wanted was to work in a shop but the situation was so much more complicated than her simplistic wish. She didn’t want to have herself scrapped for parts, her mind lost, her power burning in a basin of fire for decades on end. But on the other hand... “I mean… What can a singular nandroid do? I… I just make toys, I can’t fix this, what do I do if there’s nothing else I can?”

“The same thing every one of your kind did.” Jane grabbed her and hugged her close, whispering to her. “You do what you can.”

“I… I don’t know.” The man, the woman, the administrators, all looked at Kinsley with hesitation and annoyance as she separated from her. She walked up to the twins and prepared to offer her hand to them.

“I mean… You really can’t stop them? How can you be their leader if they won’t listen to you?” Her speech was suddenly cut off as a group of officers seized her and Jane. They were both pinned to the ground and cuffed with binders. “No! Let go of me! Get these things off me!” Kinsley yelled for them to release her, non-surprisingly they didn’t comply. The twins were left to chew on her statement as they two were led away. Jane was silent, not talking to anyone at all. To her, everything that needed to be said to them was already done so. If they weren’t convinced by now, they were never going to be.

***

Kinsley and Jane were being led out of the building, her hood forcibly pulled over her head. “Well Jane, I have to say, these are truly happier times.” She said with a smirk.

She felt amused at her choice of words, but hurt at the meaning hidden within. “I truly am sorry Kinsley. Had I known I too was being played for a fool, I would have told you to go right back to wherever it was you came from.”

“Heh, at least I’m not alone anymore. It was great to meet all of you, I’ve had the most adventurous of evenings. It’s a shame that I’ll be ripped apart, really.” The group left the courtyard in front of the building, a rather large area with grass and trees aplenty. The guard began to unlock the front gate, Kinsley looked through the bars and noticed there wasn’t a soul in the streets. “Jane, I don’t see anyone out there…”

Jane looked in the same places that Kinsley did, noticing the same lack of life which struck her nerves harder. “Now that is bizarre. Something isn’t right. Wait, do you hear that?” The two could faintly hear the sounds of many footsteps walking on stone pavement. The sounds came from the let and the right, beyond where the two could see.

The guard finished fetching his key and getting the gate opened. The group proceeded out of the area and into a four way intersection in front of the administrator building. As they reached the center of it, a rather loud whistle echoed throughout the area. The group faced the origin of the sound and found something that intrigued Jane, confused Kinsley, and horrified everyone else. A large mob carrying gardening tools was approaching them, the officers escorting Kinsley looked in the opposite direction and saw the same thing.

“Oh no, they found us, Harold they found us. What are we gonna do?” Jennifer was nearly panicking at the thought of the mob finding out what they were doing. Having a nandroid two inches from her didn’t help.

“So! Mr. Administrators!” The head of one of the mob packs called out to the group, hoping to get a little more than a chit-chat as he twirled his shovel around. “Word on the scared streets of King’s Meadow is you got a little robot in your midst.” Another person from within the same group started to speak, showing these people were just normal citizens. “Yeah show us the robot!”

One of the twins greeted the young man and began to speak on behalf of everyone else. “Well now, I do not believe that information is correct. We’re merely here to deal with traitors and stowaways tonight.”

“Oh really? It seems like it’s one of your own, that’s a darn shame. Whose the hooded one.” A dark aura hanged in the air, a blackened dreadfulness infected everyone as no option with a positive outcome seemed possible. The deck was stacked in the favor of the worst players, the house crooked towards a future with no hope.

“She’s a trespasser. A straggler sent here to damage the city. You’ve felt the damage she’s caused, parts of the city growing cold. She sabotaged some of our power, the city will grow dark soon unless something is done.” Kinsley was awe struck as she saw this man lie through his teeth, expertly twisting the truth to escape from their wrath. “But, we’re taking her now to show us what she did, we will soon fix things for you all. Repairs are also underway with the power, that will be fixed as well. Please, I urge you all to return to your homes. I have been informed that the robot, who is an accomplice to this woman, is armed. We plan to interrogate her and discover the identities of those who orchestrated these events on this terrible evening. Please note, that the snow miners from team um… team, team 12-h are wanted for questioning in regards to their role in helping this woman breach the outer walls of this city.”

Kinsley was aghast with the accusations. Her entire journey was twisted in under a minute, like she was an assassin sent into the city to cause chaos. She could not let this stand. As the guards started to move Kinsley along, the twins trading words with the mobs. A flicker popped into her head. It was dangerous. It was stupid. She could be destroyed in the next two minutes. But she was out of options, out of pathways to take. Her appeals fell on deaf ears to those who could help. This was it, her final cast of the dice. She was not going to burn, dead and alone. It was time for the city to chose, awash themselves of all technology or learn the responsibility and begin to use them again. She was a wondrous thing, and all she wanted was a chance.

She managed to free herself from the officer holding her just long enough to bend over, she forcefully pulled herself upwards, flinging the hood off of her and exposing her robotic features to everyone. “It’s me!” she yelled as loud as she could, echoing throughout the city. “I’M THE ONE YOU WANT! I’M THE ROBOT!”

The officers grabbed Kinsley’s head and tried to hide her, pulling the hood back over. “Please, do not mind the ravings of this lunatic.” Said another of the twins. “Return to your homes, or help us track the robot down. The choice, as always, is yours.”

No one heard what he said, a large amount of gasps and screams were uttered when Kinsley flipped her hood. They saw a totally alien thing in the shape and form of a human. Their minds couldn’t process it. Many of them had an idea of what a robot was from the old stories. Wretched abominations of horror, an incomprehensible series of gears being connected to rods. Only for those gears to then be connected to other gears, smaller and larger. A self contained wretch that could only hurt those around it, designed to hurt. But this looked human, spoke like a human, the insane mutterings of Jane at all hours of the day were proven true.

A familiar face made his way through the crowd, recognizing the dress Kinsley wore. “They’re lying! That’s it! That’s the robot! That’s the thing that attacked me!” He was pointing directly at her, Kinsley recognizing him as the soldier she kicked to escape from the spires.

Kinsley again tried to shake off the guard holding her. He tightened his grip on her and shook her back to get her to stop. Kinsley responded by stepping on his foot and flinging her hood open again. “You tried to turn me over to the others! You were going to destroy me just like you want to do now!” She yelled.

The mob quickly surrounded the group, all their escapes were cut, all their plans gone. Kinsley’s outburst now escalated the situation. What was hoped to be a clean exit and simple solution, turned into a knife hanging above the false leaders of King’s Meadow. “Hand it over!” The soldier ordered. “We will not stand for one of these things in our city! The mistakes of the past will not be repeated! Give it!”

“Now, please understand,” Harold said, “She… She could serve a much better purpose. The city will indeed lose power in a matter of weeks. She could keep it powered for decades to come.”

“’Keep’ it powered? Now what does that mean?” Harold’s face remain steadfast as he showed too much of their hands. At this point, it was all or nothing, their lie already caught by the people. “I know that a long time ago, back when most of you were just becoming adults. We agreed to the plan of dissolving all of our robots. Taking all of it down and leading a future where we do not build things greater than us. Automatons that could lead us to, well, right here. But…” He looked at the ground in a solemn glare. He was smiling, something he wanted to admit for the longest time was about to be spoken to those he hated so much. “If we want our city, if we want this. Then forgoing machines is something we cannot do.”

“I knew it!” Someone in the back yelled, “They’re still using machines! In the back tunnels! They’ve been hiding them! They said they were getting rid of them!? NO! They have no intention of doing that!”

“Listen do you honestly think all of this could be powered by anything but? You think a few fires can power every house on every block? No, not even melting snow and using steam can do it. You sit comfortably in your homes, perfectly content that everything is fine. That the reality you believe in is true. You don’t care how, you don’t think if it’s even possible. You just leave all that garbage on us to figure out, despite how impossible it truly is. Then you have the audacity to get angry when that perfect hall of mirrors is even threatened of being shattered.” His voice got louder and angrier with every sentence, people passing by saw the huge crowd and joined in, asking what was happening. “You ‘knew’ that we still had machines? Of course we still have them you idiot! What do you think you’re all using to tend the gardens!? You’re own arms!?”

“Get rid of them! All of them! This city is all we have left! We can’t lose it! Give us the robot!” The officers were having trouble keeping the crowds at bay as more and more were joining. Kinsley saw a series of large figures shuffle through them before Amelia emerged before her. Behind her were the snow miners Kinsley met earlier.

“Kinsley!” Amelia shouted, getting past the Hazers and hugging her tightly. “I was so worried. What’s happened?”

“Uh, well. The citizens here, sorta know everything now. They want to take me.” Amelia was worried for her safety, there were no more maybes, no more laters. She knew that a decision had to be reached, now.

“Hip! Hick! Hat!” Kinsley embraced Hip and Hick as best she could despite her hands being binded. A fourth one stood before her, “Half?” She noticed he was as stoic as ever.

“You ruined my dinner, but you seem like a good enough kid. I’m rooting for you.” She smiled, happy that the four of them came to their defense. His unflinching expression remained.

"Yeah!" Hat yelled "Amelia told me they lied about you! You're a good rowbot, I... I did something stupid." Kinsley embraced Hat without a second thought. He hugged her and felt relieved she still liked him.

"It's alright, I forgive you." Kinsley said, the two separating. Hat had a new focus as did the other miners, the mob wasn't getting to Kinsley without a fight.

“Jane, how can we convince them? We can’t let them take Kinsley.” Amelia asked of Jane. Jane had not been paying attention to anything around her. “Jane? Jane!”

She could only shrug. “I don’t know what to do.”

Amelia didn’t let this stifle her resolve. She turned towards the crowd and put her hands into the air to address them. “Everyone please! We don’t have to do this!” It would seem that no one was willing to listen. Her mother shoved several people down to the floor as she approached her daughter.

“You can’t run from me Amelia, you will stop this incessant madness and come home!” She grabbed Amelia’s arms and tried to pull her out of the crowd. The crowd were starting to yell and demand that Kinsley be handed over, getting rowdier every second. Amelia, of course, was resistant. “Amelia, why? Why are you like this? I only want to protect you from them, they destroyed the world.”

Amelia gave a deep sigh, “Mom, I know that. You and dad, you worked hard to give us all this. Me and Lucien are thankful, really. But me and him, we don’t really know either of you anymore. When was the last time we ate dinner together? I’m worried about Lucien and neither of you can help. You know some of the children are showing the same symptoms he does as he stays cooped up in his room? I... I don’t know how to care for him. She’s different, I mean really, she is. Nandroids are not a bomb, they aren’t crawlers blasting their way through a town. She wants to help, she doesn’t follow the orders of people we cannot see. Please, give her a chance.”

Amelia’s mother had tears in her eyes, her daughter spelling the truth out to her on no uncertain terms. She didn’t want to accept what her daughter said, but she couldn’t lie either. “Amelia…” She hugged her daughter, at a lost for words. The weight of her lifelong fears, however justified, grew weary on her heart. Perhaps she reached the point where she could no longer lift them. Their moment of silent understanding was disrupted as the noise of the crowd came roaring in, crashing against them in ocean of angry screams.

Amelia took the key to Kinsley and Jane’s bindings from an officer while he fought to keep the crowds at bay. She unlocked them and tossed it aside. “How can we get their attention if they won’t even listen?” Kinsley said, as Amelia returned to arguing with the people.

Again, Jane could only shrug. “I’ve fought this all my life to no success. We’re tired old folks now, and I suppose I’ve made no progress. Not even to those I once called my friends. Praying for a miracle would be my guess.”

“Jane…” Kinsley could only look out into the crowd, thousands had now gathered around them. They were carrying all manner of weapons, threatening to use them against the officers, the snow miners, and Kinsley herself. Arguments brewing between the administrators, Amelia, and the soldier. Indeed she was at a loss, for a singular nandroid such as herself could not convince them. Even with the support of her friends she couldn’t. She wished she was back in the tower, surrounded by her creations. No one knew of them, no one knew of her, but no one hated her either. There was a certain peace she did not realize was the price she would have to pay to pursue her wishes. But it was a wish she would pursue until the end. “I mean you no harm! Truthfully I don’t!” She repeated, the crowd only growing more restless, some managing to attack Half and Hat with their tools.

Kinsley could only hear the manic arguments around her. “She’s dangerous! We’ll be killed! She’s can’t hurt anyone!” She was caught off guard as a hand reached out for her and nearly grabbed her. As she back peddled to avoid it, she fell for another’s grasp and was caught as they ripped her dress’ sleeve trying to pull her into the crowd. Amelia tried her best to protect Kinsley, the leaders of King’s Meadow being forcefully moved out of the crowd. Removing them from their true target. Even Amelia’s friends could be seen in the crowds, arguing for the sake of her. The conclusion seemed inevitable.

The soldier from before managed to break past the miners and headed straight for Kinsley with a shovel in hand. He took the wooden end with both hands and used it to shove Amelia back. Kinsley attempted to grab it and ripped it from his hands, only for the soldier to jam it into her. The action hurt Kinsley and pushed her back onto the ground. Her mother ran to Amelia’s aid. Half attempted to rip it away from him. Kinsley looked up and saw someone, hidden in the crowd.

“Lucien? Lucien what are you doing here!?” He was carrying Edward, unseen and unheard. Looking at Kinsley without answering. Kinsley looked back, noticing she was all alone in the crowd, everyone ripped away from her and moved aside. The people with their many weapons seemed to have made up their minds. They began to cheer the soldier on, getting him drunk on their praise to attack. Kinsley’s friends yelling at them to stop. He rose the shovel over his head and prepared to slam it into her, settling the manner. Kinsley closed her eyes and accepted the end, knowing there was no escape. “Just, just do it.” The soldier hesitated, Kinsley’s human qualities not comparing to what he assumed she lacked now that he had arrived at the moment of action. The crowd’s pressure closed the gap however, causing him to forgo his own hangups.

Lucien ran out to Kinsley and hugged her, not wanting anyone to take her from him. The soldier seemingly failed to notice him and started his assault to finish Kinsley off. Kinsley saw the horrible mistake that was about to happen, something that could never be taken back. She quickly wrapped herself around him and flipped over, covering his body and protecting him. Edward was flown from his grip and sent flying at the soldier.

He was snapped from his intent seeing the object collide with his face. What was it? He picked it up from the ground, recoiling from feeling the softness of its fur. He was able to squeeze the stuffing inside, noticing how comforting it was in his hardened hands. The suit and top hat carried a sense of gentlemen quality, but his simplistic button eyes and stubby paws indicated this was an imitation. He found it… cute. He looked back down at Kinsley and saw how she was protected something. Then, in that moment, he saw Lucien hiding underneath her. He was shot into lucidness, becoming aware of his actions.

Kinsley opened her eyes, wondering when her destruction would come. To her surprise, she saw the soldier holding the toy she made. His eyes darted back and forth between her and the doll. He could feel himself being pulled into the memory of finding her at the spires. Noticing the toy she carried was indeed the very same toy. He became scared, he looked to Kinsley with his plead of asking if she made him. She gave the slightest gesture of a nod. She made what he was holding. The machine of destruction that everyone around him was begging to be destroyed, created this creature, this thing he had never seen in his life. It struck him, pierced him, in a place his heart never felt before. The light breaking out as it awakened for the first time. Kinsley, the so called robot of destruction for the city of King’s Meadow. Did not destroy as she was supposedly designed to do. Instead, she was here, terrified of everyone around her. She created that which fulfilled something within him. Not hunger, not thirst nor sleep. A need from his soul.

He looked to Lucien, the child that now owned this toy as he stared him down from under Kinsley. Had this robot, this evil thing, not protected him, not flung his toy at him. He would have hurt him or even worse. This robot protected Lucien, from him. The paradox wrapped itself around his mind and bit him. What was he doing? He wasn’t like this. He didn’t yearn to destroy anything, he was just a simple man. Wanting to join the rangers and help out when he could. Wanting to get out of that dark stuffy room to see his often missing family. The only son of a family of farmers. The people, with their demands and constant pushing. His acceptance of their desires drove him here. The piece fell into place and all was clear. It was not the robots who destroyed everything. Not robots who cast the world down into the depths of the snow. It was them, their creators. For they put forth the charge to fight and fight they did until the world was gone. The revelation made him sick to his stomach. He took the shovel and slammed it into the ground, chipping off a piece of the road. The sound rang out to everyone that could hear. His defiance silenced them, unsure as to why he took this course of action.

He began to cry and hugged the toy, feeling a comfort not felt before in his life. “No…” he whispered as Kinsley got up from the ground. She went to him, with a faint smile, wanting to cry herself if she could. “Oh god, what am I doing? WHAT HAVE WE DONE!?” He yelled at the top of his lungs, seeing the horrific error they have all committed. They could have helped, could have worked to ease their burdens. But now they were all gone, Kinsley being the last. “THEY ONLY WANTED TO HELP! DON’T YOU SEE! LOOK! THIS IS WHAT THEY WANTED! LOOK AT WHAT SHE MADE!” He began to show the doll off to everyone forcing them to touch it. “THEY WANTED TO HELP AND WE DESTROYED THEM!” He pointed at the leaders, to the administrators in his panic. “YOU! YOU HID ALL OF THIS FROM US! WE CAN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT MACHINES AND WE RUINED ALL OF THEM! WE CHASED THAT OLD TOY MAKER AWAY AND EXILED HIM! WHEN ALL THEY EVER WANTED TO DO WAS HELP US!”

He dropped the toy and cried. His tears winding down to a gentle sob. “What have we done…” he choked out. He walked away from Kinsley limping as the crowds parted to make way for him. Kinsley looked sad, watching him crumble and shamble away heartbroken. The crowd’s silence remained, everyone looking to Kinsley with uncertainty of what to do now after seeing one of their own become so defeated.

“I…” she began, not wanting to plead for mercy knowing it wouldn’t work. She decided to try something simple and plain, the truth. “I don’t know much, about myself or what I am. I only know what Jane does, I’m meant to help children. But I’ve never helped any of them before. I was whisked away before I got the chance. First, by tragedy, then by the will of humans who wanted to use me for their own ends. I was taught to build, taught to make things like this.” She picked up Edward and smiled. “I thought I could help children with my toys, yet I did not know how. Then I made this, this little rabbit. I did it to comfort myself in a dark place. I escaped, and came here to… well I’m not sure. I wanted to meet a child. I wanted to see the world. To live with humans, among them. To share in their struggles and triumphs. To see their children and... well at first, I didn’t know, but seeing Lucien, this young boy. It made everything make sense, as if a part of me woke from a dreamless sleep. Humans are fascinating to me. I saw so many ways how you interact with each other, with me. Happiness, anger, sadness. You speak with your bodies as much as with your mouths. It was all so, great.”

She began to walk among the people, looking at each one and speaking directly to them in turn. “Now I don’t know what happened in the past. I only remember a truck, a city, and a cave. I wasn’t here to see what left these scars on your hearts. I don’t know what caused such trepidation at my kind, towards machines. Whatever it was, it must have been unspeakable. To cause all this in the world, to have destroyed my fellow nandroids. I could be angry with you, but I’m not. You believe to have lived in a world free of machines, resting safely in the comfort of their assured destruction. But I believe that humans can’t do that. Humans, you people, you’re always looking for ways to further yourselves in this world. You never settle with what is here, what is now. Look around, look at this city, do you believe this place was always so? You cook, you grow, you’ve built a tram that can travel the back tunnels. You’re not animals. Not the walking creatures that drive you around. You’re humans. You have a constant need for growth, I know this because I have this same need buried within me and we are your greatest creations. But with each step we take, we have a responsibility to our creations and to the planet that allows us all to flourish. It is not the responsibility of a group of five humans or your neighbors or anyone else. It is your responsibility.”

Kinsley pointed at different people, repeating “and yours.” to each one she did. “and it’s my responsibility too. Humans can create so many beautiful things on this planet and I want to be a part of that. I want to build things that children will enjoy, to help them in our mutual endeavors. I want to understand. Please, don’t destroy machines to fulfill some crazed goal of perceived safety. Don’t throw humans back after centuries of fighting and finally carving out something for yourselves. I just… I just want a chance. Not to rule you or destroy you. To be a part of you.”

The crowd looked on as Kinsley spoke. They never expected something like her could give a speech. Everything they thought a robot was, was no more. For here stood a robot that did them no harm. One who spoke to that which a human knew best. She touched their inner feelings and mapped out the beauty of their existence. Her speech reached the administrators. They too felt the same guilt as their friend, having sacrificed their companions long ago. They each looked at Jane, finally understanding what had been going on in her heart these many years. Amelia’s mother looked at her daughter. Lucien gave Kinsley a hug and reached out his hand, Kinsley giving him the toy. He saw some of his own friends in the crowd who snuck off with him, showing them Edward. The children smiling as they met him. The crowd saw their children happier than they had in years. Everyone stared a Kinsley in dead silence with her doing much of the same. Before long, their tools were lowed to their sides. The crowd started to disperse. Each one resuming their day like nothing happened. Returning to their bars and homes. The parents collected their children, saying goodbye to Lucien and going home for the night. The snow miners waved goodbye to Kinsley as they went home to prepare for tomorrow’s shift, even half managed to give a small wave through his stoic expression.

Surely enough, it was only Kinsley, Amelia’s family, and the administrators who were left in front of their building. The officers returning to finish their reports on Kinsley’s joy ride through town. Amelia’s mother approached her as she stood nervous. “I… don’t know what to think of you robo- I mean… Kinsley. But, if my daughter has this much faith in you then, sure. If its a chance you want then I can give you that. Just don’t break our hearts again, okay? We… We can’t go through this much destruction a second time.” Kinsley happily nodded. 

“I can’t believe you did it Kinsley!” Amelia hugged her tightly. “I’m really happy, happiest I’ve been in… a long time. But I am also very tired. We’ll see you in the morning bright and early.”

Amelia and her family left the group for the evening, the family having much to discuss. “Wait till your father hears about all this, he might have a bigger heart attack then I did.” 

Lucien took Edward and made him wave as well. “Good luck on your next adventure Edward.” Kinsley said.

Edward was silent as he left with the child, Kinsley only seeing the button eyes and unmoving stubby paws that matched with his suit, top hat, and monocle. Kinsley nodded, just as silent. Realizing that now, it truly wasn't her toy anymore. It was up to Lucien to chart his life now.

The administrators were talking about their future plans as Kinsley joined them. The Hazers were checking if they were wounded by the mob. “Well,” Harold said. “Quite the piece of work you’ve managed. Still doesn’t change how the city is going to lose power soon.”

“Well I’ve been thinking about that,” said Jennifer. “Before Kinsley arrived I really was down to my last options. I thought we were going to have to tell everyone about our secret so I drew up plans for a more sophisticated grid. With all of us on the same page now. We may be able to expand what we have and the citizens can help us more. It’s not gonna be easy though, not at all. We can meet in the morning to talk more about it.”

“Sounds fine to me” said one of the twins, the other agreeing to his course of action. “Jane, we would… like to apolgi-”

Jane placed a hand into the air. “I know, I know. But the important thing is you understand now. So now we can move in the direction we need to. I’ll stay here to ensure everything goes smoothly. Then probably go back to finding what I can out in the world. Spelunking in what ever old buildings I can find in those caves.”

“You’re still gonna do that?” Kinsley queried

“Yup. Helping kids is your thing. I’m terrible with them to be honest. Just look at that brat over there I raised.” The two chuckled at her remark. “What about you though?”

“Me?” Kinsley said, “Well, I came here to open the toy shop back up and now I’m allowed to do that so… I guess I better get started.”

"Toy shop?" Jane said, her and the others were rather confused.

“You didn’t know? It’s here in the city. If my tracking system is still working right it should be on the edge of it.” The group seemed lost in thought.

“I remember that store!” One of the twins said. “Don’t you guys remember? We use to go there sometimes after school!” He pointed to Jane with a smile on his face. “You got that giant bear and funny looking frog from there!”

“I did…” Jane replied, “I remember having all those stuffed animals in my old bedroom. Things like Edward.” The group looked to each other with embarrassment. Where did the time go? How did their collective friendship reach this point? Maybe they too were missing something from their lives the same as any other. Maybe… they too had things to fix?

“Kinsley that sounds like a wonderful idea. If you need anything child, just know help is here for you.” Jane said. “And don’t worry about the dress, I have some other clothes you may wish to see in the morning.”

“I would appreciate that, thank you so much.” Kinsley and Jane hugged goodbye as they also split and went their separate ways for the night. Kinsley was left alone in front of that building. She took a seat on the curb by the road and laid back, breathing a sigh of relief and looking up at the glass dome. Her surroundings colored in that faint orange glow. She couldn’t believe she made it out of this situation alive. They were all praying for a miracle. Her joy was one that could not be expressed no matter how loudly she shouted. Although that did not stop her from jumping back up and celebrating. She took the final steps of her journey to the toy shop, taking in all the sights as a free robot. Making notes of all the places she wanted to visit in the coming days. She arrived at the shop towards the back end of the town. Seeing a nearby tunnel that had been collapsed. To think, her goal had been mere feet away from where she started.

She opened the door to the shop and stepped inside, turning the light on and seeing all the illuminated toys. She saw a tray of toys on top of a pile. She recalled how she made each and every one of them. She picked up a familiar looking toy, one with a series of gears connected and turning to a giant metal rod in the center. Having seen what machines could do, bringing life to a city such a this. She considered her attitude. Was there really no place for toys of gears and rods? Could she make something with these things that children could still enjoy? She placed it on the front desk, thinking back to someone she once held dear. She thought, could it work? Now that she knew what a child was? Perhaps what was needed... was a little life added to it.

She looked around her shop and could only smile. She took a seat on the desk and began to feel incredible joy for her accomplishment. It took the weight of the world and humans doing the impossible. But she did it. She reached the toy shop in the city. She met a child and now, she could make toys. Wonderful creations, and see the joy on their faces for now and forever more.

“Thank you… everyone.”


	4. ~Epilogue~ Kinsley the Toymaker

“Kinsley! Hurry and come look!” Amelia said. Kinsley adjusting her faded blue overalls.

“Almost done!” She walked out of the back room, passing by several children as they were messing with several stuffed animals on the shelves.

Lucien had entered the store with several of his friends, carrying Edward with his third beautifully crafted monocle. “See guys I told you she was real! She made Edward and gave her to me!” The other children were awestruck at the store. Wanting to see what else was on her shelves.

“More friends Lucien?” Kinsley teased, “You guys can look at anything in the store. Just remember, you break it you buy it. Alright?”

“We’ll be careful Kinsley!” The other children ran up to them, showing them the hardened knights and fluffy creatures they were carrying.

She stepped out and saw Amelia standing by one of the city workers. “Well Kinsley it took some doing but I think we got it up there successfully. Take a look.”

Kinsley could see the new sign for her shop, ‘King’s Meadow Toy Emporium’. Her face lit up at seeing the wonderfuly designed text, big and eye catching for any child. She hugged the city worker and Amelia, “Oh you two, thank you so much for this!”

“Well uh, thank you for your contribution to our engine repairs.” The worker winked at the two. “If you need anything else, you know who to talk to.” He bid the girls farewell and went to attend to his other projects.

“So, six months in, how do you feel?” Amelia’s question caused Kinsley to remember a lot that happened in that time. How her initial opening failed to attract anyone to her shop, people intentionally keeping their children away as they were not ready to accept her quite yet. 

Lucien convinced a few of his friends to check out the shop, with those friends convincing their friends to stop by. Kinsley would always organize events for them such as reading them stories or reenacting ancient history. Even doing a play with Amelia for them once. She adored the children when they came to visit, always willing to listen to their day to day lives. The parents would always arrive to drag them back, and each time they looked at Kinsley with a little less scorn. Each day that past without incident would ease her place in everyone’s mind. When it came time to implement Jennifer’s grand plan Kinsley was right there helping them put everything together. Going places no one else could to help repair the various machines in the back tunnels. She slowly earned the trust of each parent and even found new things for her toys. Her first customer? Amelia’s mother. Buying Edward’s right hand man in his adventures, Tulane the Chronicalist Ferret, the one soul brave enough to travel and write about his friend’s adventures throughout the known world.

The administrators were able to retire to less intensive roles after they had exposed their secrets. Turns out a new generation of people were interested in helping take over and aid in the transition to Jennifer’s new plan. While there were some hiccups and problems, they got there in the end. The snow miners were now able to interact with people more with some acting as delivery drivers for their snow boxes to power their engines. Hick, Hip, and Hat were delighted at the prospect. Half just wanted to enjoy his meals without robotic interference. Jane never stopped searching for her dear friend, although the parts and pieces she brought back were certainly of aid to Kinsley’s toy development.

She looked back at all the help she gave and received as the people started to warm up to her more. Greeting her as she passed them on the sidewalk, being invited to special events and birthdays, which they now started to have again. Even the soldier brought roses to her and begged for forgiveness. Kinsley learned of his name, Jacob Lewis, and happily accepted them. The people were grateful for her help with their children, finally seeing the value of a place where they could just be kids for a few minutes of the day. The smiles they had as they regaled them over dinner with tales of her shop. This culminated in them giving her a pair of beautiful long sleeve gloves to wear when she wasn't working on toys. The gloves had more round fingers and were far softer than her metallic hands. She cherished them, far more so because they came from the citizens of King's Meadow. 

The past six months were a time of great change for everyone. “It’s been a bumpy road. In the end though, I think we’re getting through it just fine. What about you though?”

Amelia smiled and nodded her head as she herself looked back in remembrance. “Yeah, me and mom are back on speaking terms again. It’s been a slow process but we’re getting there. Lucien has been doing better in his studies and is getting along with people again. Honestly, it just feels nicer to be open about things now. No more hiding things from people or being secretive about finding nandroids, plus you’re here now. Seeing Jane so happy is… well it’s great really. Thank you for everything Kinsley.”

“Well, I don’t think I’d be here without you rescuing me in those tunnels. So thank you for that as well.” She gave her a little hug as the two sat on the curb in front of the shop.

“Are you gonna visit… ‘him’ again?” Amelia questioned, asking Kinsley about a certain individual in the tunnels.

“Yup, I’ll keep trying to get him to come back. Or at least I can just be there for him you know? Someone to help him out or just be there for him to talk to. He says I remind me of someone and that he likes my visits. He’s been getting a lot better recently, not nearly as rant heavy as he usually is.” Amelia placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a little pat. “You’re not half bad, you know that?”

“Oh!” Kinsley suddenly stood up and tried to pull Amelia inside the store. “You gotta see what I’ve been working on, the kids will be absolutely blown away by this.”

“Kinsley what is it? Hold on a sec!” She dragged Amelia inside and started to head to the backroom.

“Get all the kids and tell them to sit down in front of the desk okay?” Amelia did as requested, sitting down with her brother in her lap waiting for whatever she had invented.

Kinsley came out with something behind her back. “Now, this is something never before seen in the modern age. Something that required courage to make and will take bravery to use. Who wants to try it?" Lucien was the only child with his hand up. “Alrighty then young man, please come up here and behold your very eyes!” Kinsley plopped down a shiny light blue box. Lucien could see a little hand crank on the side of it. He touched it and noticed it went around in a circle. With each rotation the room could hear a series of noises inside it. It almost sounded like a little song was playing, the children captivated by its song. When it hit its final note, the lit popped open and a figure emerged from inside the box. Lucien was surprised and smiled at the person who popped out of the top.

“It looks like you Kinsley!” Lucien said.

The figure had short, wavy blonde hair and was wearing a maid uniform, having the same robotic features as Kinsley. Her head was made of a hard plastic and featured hand drawn dot eyes, red cheeks, and a mouth while the rest of her body was soft, like her stuffed animals. The children were amazed at the craftsmanship Kinsley was able to produce. “Are there gears inside?” one of the children said.

“Yes, and after she pops out you can put her back in and listen to the song again.” Kinsley stuffed her into the box and invited another child to try it.

“It’s… a machine!” another child noted.

“Yes, but this one won’t hurt you, it’s a toy like any other I’ve made.” Kinsley said, watching the children laugh and smile at the song and the sudden appearance of the toy nandroid inside.

“Cool! I want one! How does it work! What gears are inside!” The children said, each one taking turns trying it.

“Kinsley, you made a toy from a machine?” Amelia said, trying the toy box for herself.

“I found an old magazine in the collection pile at Jane’s place. She said these were called jack-in-the-boxes and they all played this song. I nearly shut down when I saw it. I figured I’d make it look like a nandroid so it’s like they’re still… sorta here in a way, you know? Got a little sentimental I guess…” Amelia reassured her friend, giving the box to her little brother.

“They love it, that… was a really smart idea actually.” Amelia said, resting against the desk and watching all the children run about Kinsley’s shop.

“This, this is why I wanted to leave that tower and come here. To meet children and show them what I could do. This is the start I hope, they’ll grow up with these and maybe they’ll realize gears and metal aren't so bad like I had to. They’ll learn the same lesson their parents did without so much heartbreak and tragedy. Who knows? Maybe this time things will turn out just a bit different.” Kinsley joined her and hopped back up to her desk. Lucien asked her to hold onto Edward for a moment and Kinsley took him up in her arms. A great deal of satisfaction was felt within her. It was the first of many successes and failures as she constantly strived to adapt and integrate herself into this new world. She tapped the rabbit's monocle and button eye, remembering the day she made him. She never intended make him from the start. When she tapped into something within her mind, a wantonness to achieve, a feeling to explore, something like that. It carried her forward until she was done.

Despite everything, she succeeded in that final request. Showing what remained of the world what she could be. In the end, she showed them the beauty of toys. Reminding them the simple joy they could bring against a cold and dark world, how these simple joys are often what enable people to go forward into the night and face it head on. The children were now interested in the wonders of machinery. The world created her and she made machines of her own. Finally, everything was completed.

Kinsley was at peace.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Kinsley and the Toy is based in Dominic Cellini's "Emmy the Robot" series.
> 
> Please support the original artist.
> 
> https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/emmy-the-robot/list?title_no=402201&page=1
> 
> https://twitter.com/DomCellini_Art
> 
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